RECENT
- Cell wall–membrane anchors keep plant cells resilient during drought
- How root cell types diverge across the Brassicaceae
- Corn varieties differ widely in how their roots seek water
- José named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
- Mapping osmotic stress pathways across the green lineage
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New WordPress Dinneny lab website
Welcome to the new Dinneny lab website! Here you’ll find information on the lab and news associated with it. I’ll try to keep everyone uptodate regarding projects, publications and new people in the lab.
Jose
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Hydropatterning: water provides the blueprint for root architecture
Roots do not branch at random. Yu Bao and colleagues showed that a root in contact with moisture on one side places its lateral branches on that side and suppresses them on the dry side, a behavior the lab named hydropatterning. The response is set locally, through auxin biosynthesis and transport, and operates independently of the general stress signaling triggered by water deficit. It occurs in soil as well as in the laboratory, and in grasses as well as Arabidopsis, indicating a broadly conserved mechanism for placing roots where water is.
Coverage: Carnegie Science
Bao Y, Aggarwal P, Robbins NE II, Sturrock CJ, Thompson MC, Tan HQ, Tham C, Rodriguez PL, Vernoux T, Mooney SJ, Bennett MJ, Dinneny JR (2014) Plant roots employ a patterning mechanism to position lateral root branches toward available water. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111(25):9319-9324. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1400966111
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How salt stops root growth: ABA signaling in the endodermis
Salt in the soil arrests the growth of lateral roots, but which cells make that decision was unclear. Lina Duan and colleagues found that the stress hormone abscisic acid acts through a single internal cell layer, the endodermis, to hold newly formed lateral roots in a quiescent state. Blocking ABA signaling in the endodermis alone was enough to release that arrest, showing that one cell type can govern the growth of an entire organ. The quiescent state is reversible, allowing roots to resume growth when conditions improve.
Coverage: Carnegie Science
Duan L, Dietrich D, Ng CH, Chan PMY, Bhalerao R, Bennett MJ, Dinneny JR (2013) Endodermal ABA signaling promotes lateral root quiescence during salt stress in Arabidopsis seedlings. Plant Cell 25(1):324-341. doi: 10.1105/tpc.112.107227
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