Fromm Hillel
School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
Plants (Basel). 2019 Jul 22;8(7):236. doi: 10.3390/plants8070236.
One of the greatest challenges of terrestrial vegetation is to acquire water through soil-grown roots. Owing to the scarcity of high-quality water in the soil and the environment's spatial heterogeneity and temporal variability, ranging from extreme flooding to drought, roots have evolutionarily acquired tremendous plasticity regarding their geometric arrangement of individual roots and their three-dimensional organization within the soil. Water deficiency has also become an increasing threat to agriculture and dryland ecosystems due to climate change. As a result, roots have become important targets for genetic selection and modification in an effort to improve crop resilience under water-limiting conditions. This review addresses root plasticity from different angles: Their structures and geometry in response to the environment, potential genetic control of root traits suitable for water-limiting conditions, and contemporary and future studies of the principles underlying root plasticity post-Darwin's 'root-brain' hypothesis. Our increasing knowledge of different disciplines of plant sciences and agriculture should contribute to a sustainable management of natural and agricultural ecosystems for the future of mankind.
陆地植被面临的最大挑战之一是通过土壤中的根系获取水分。由于土壤中优质水稀缺，且环境存在空间异质性和时间变异性，从极端洪水到干旱，根系在个体根的几何排列及其在土壤中的三维组织方面进化出了巨大的可塑性。由于气候变化，缺水也对农业和旱地生态系统构成了越来越大的威胁。因此，根系已成为遗传选择和改良的重要目标，旨在提高作物在水分限制条件下的恢复力。本综述从不同角度探讨根系可塑性：它们响应环境的结构和几何形状、适合水分限制条件的根系性状的潜在遗传控制，以及达尔文提出“根脑”假说后关于根系可塑性原理的当代和未来研究。我们对植物科学和农业不同学科的了解不断增加，这应该有助于为人类未来对自然和农业生态系统进行可持续管理。
