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JXB Advance Access originally published online on June 19, 2007
Journal of Experimental Botany 2007 58(9):2329-2338; doi:10.1093/jxb/erm114
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© The Author [2007]. 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

RESEARCH PAPER

Signalling mechanisms underlying the morphological responses of the root system to nitrogen in Arabidopsis thaliana

Hanma Zhang*, Honglin Rong and David Pilbeam

Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, LC Miau Building, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bgyhz{at}leeds.ac.uk

Plants display considerable developmental plasticity in response to changing environmental conditions. The adaptations of the root system to variations in N supply are an excellent example of such developmental plasticity. In Arabidopsis, four morphological adaptations to the N supply have been characterized: (i) a localized stimulatory effect of external nitrate on lateral root elongation; (ii) a systemic inhibitory effect of high tissue nitrate concentrations on the activation of lateral root meristems; (iii) a suppression of lateral root initiation by high C:N ratios, and (iv) an inhibition of primary root growth and stimulation of root branching by external L-glutamate. These responses have provided valuable experimental systems for the study of N signalling in plants. This article will highlight some recent progress made in this direction from studies using the Arabidopsis root system. One recent development of note has been the emerging evidence of a regulatory role of nitrate transporters in some of the responses. It has been reported that the AtNRT1.1 (CHL1) dual-affinity nitrate transporter acts upstream of the ANR1 MADS box gene in mediating the stimulatory effect of a localized nitrate supply on lateral root proliferation. The AtNRT2.1 high-affinity nitrate transporter seems to be involved in the repression of lateral root initiation by high C:N ratios. The systemic inhibitory effect of high nitrate supply on lateral root development, which is mediated by abscisic acid (ABA), may be linked to the recently identified ABA receptor, FCA. The newly discovered root architectural response to external L-glutamate potentially offers a valuable experimental tool for studying the biological function of plant glutamate receptors and amino acid signalling.

Key words: Arabidopsis, morphological plasticity, nitrogen, root system

Received 23 February 2007; Revised 13 April 2007 Accepted 16 April 2007


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