Skip Navigation


JXB Advance Access originally published online on September 16, 2009
Journal of Experimental Botany 2009 60(14):3989-4002; doi:10.1093/jxb/erp265
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
60/14/3989    most recent
erp265v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Forde, B. G.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Forde, B. G.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Forde, B. G.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author [2009]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

REVIEW-ARTICLE

Is it good noise? The role of developmental instability in the shaping of a root system

Brian G. Forde*

Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK

* E-mail: b.g.forde{at}lancaster.ac.uk

Root architecture plays a major part in determining a root system's ability to function effectively and efficiently in its essential roles of anchorage and the capture of soil resources. The characteristics of root development that are conventionally considered to be the main determinants of root architecture are the rate, angle, and duration of root growth and the pattern of root branching. In this review, the case is made that there is an additional trait that has been largely ignored but which has a significant influence on root architecture, namely the degree to which stochasticity (or ‘developmental instability’) affects the developmental process. Although the intrinsic variability in the development and growth of lateral roots has been recognized for some time, in almost every study of root development this remarkable facet of root behaviour tends to be hidden beneath the veil of statistical averaging. Progress in other fields is providing intriguing insights into the phenomenon of developmental instability, how it is generated at the molecular and cellular levels and the genetic mechanisms by which it is buffered. This review will consider the existence of developmental instability in roots, its underlying causes, its effects on root architecture, and the evidence that it is under genetic control. The hypothesis will be advanced that developmental instability in roots is an adaptive trait, and its potential relevance to root function will be discussed in both an ecological and an agronomic context.

Key words: Canalization, epigenetics, gene expression noise, lateral roots, nutrient-use efficiency, root architecture, stochastic variation

Received 3 June 2009; Revised 6 August 2009 Accepted 11 August 2009


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.