Moderate Water Stress in Rice Induces Rhizosheath Formation Associated with Abscisic Acid and Auxin Responses
January 2020
in “
Journal of Experimental Botany
”
TLDR Moderate water stress helps rice form rhizosheaths by affecting hormone responses, which may aid in breeding drought-resistant rice.
The study investigated rhizosheath formation in rice under moderate water stress, revealing that such stress induced rhizosheath formation, with higher soil porosity and water content in the rhizosheath compared to bulk soil. Short root hair mutants exhibited less rhizosheath formation than wild-type rice. Transcriptomic analysis showed that abscisic acid (ABA) and auxin were involved in the root and root hair responses. Blocking these pathways reduced rhizosheath formation and root hair length, particularly in the shortest root hair mutant, rhl1-1. Wild-type plants maintained higher root ABA content, auxin transport, root hair length, and rhizosheath amount than rhl1-1. The findings suggested that moderate water stress induced rhizosheath formation by modulating ABA and auxin responses, potentially aiding in breeding drought-resistant rice varieties.