The genetic basis of nitrogen-dependent root system architecture in plants

Highlights

	● Root system architecture (RSA) of plants has the plasticity to fluctuations in nitrogen availability within their environment.
	● N-dependent RSA is regulated by the intricate interplay between N and phytohormones.
	● More attention should be given to deciphering the genetic basis of N-dependent RSA in crops.

Abstract

Plant roots are crucial for nitrogen uptake. To efficiently acquire N, root system architecture (RSA), which includes the length and quantity of primary roots, lateral roots and root hairs, is dynamically regulated by the surrounding N status. For crops, an ideotype RSA characterized by enhanced plasticity to meet various N demands under fluctuating N conditions is fundamental for high N utilization and subsequent yield. Therefore, exploring the genetic basis of N-dependent RSA, especially in crops, is of great significance. This review summarizes how plants sense both local and systemic N signals and transduce them to downstream pathways. Additionally, it presents the current understanding of genetic basis of N-dependent root plasticity in Arabidopsis and major crops. Also, to fully understand the mechanisms underlying N-dependent root morphogenesis and effectively identify loci associated with an ideotype RSA in crops, more attention should be paid to non-destructive, in situ phenotyping of root traits, cell-type-specific exploration of gene functions, and crosstalk between root architecture, environment and management in the future.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Nitrogen / nitrogen signals / phytohormones / prospectives / root system architecture

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (153E11KYSB20190059), G2P Project of Ministry of Science and Technology (2020YFE0202300), and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2023A1515110406).

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Xiujie Liu, Kai Huang, and Chengcai Chu declare that they have no conflicts of interest or financial conflicts to disclose. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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The Author(s) 2024. Published by Higher Education Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)