Abstract
Plants function as an integrated system of interconnected organs, with shoots and roots mutually influencing each other. Brassinosteroid (BR) signaling is essential for whole-plant growth, yet the relative importance of shoot versus root BR function in shaping root system architecture (RSA) remains unclear. Here, we directly tackle this question using micro-grafts between wild-type and BR-null mutants in both Arabidopsis and tomato, assisted by phenotyping, transcriptomics, metabolic profiling, transmission electron microscopy, and modeling approaches. These analyses demonstrate that shoot BR, by determining root carbon availability, allows for a full rescue of mutant root biomass, while loss of shoot BR attenuates root growth. In parallel, root BR dictates the spatial distribution of carbon along the root, through local regulation of growth anisotropy and cell wall thickness, shaping root morphology. A newly developed "grow and branch" simulation model demonstrates that these shoot- and root-derived BR effects are sufficient to explain and predict root growth dynamics and branching phenotype in wild-type, BR-deficient mutants, and micro-graft combinations. Our interdisciplinary approach, applied to two plant species and integrating shoot and root hormonal functions, provides a new understanding of how RSA is modulated at various scales.
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Claims 4
Claim · model-written summary
Shoot BR restored mutant root biomass by determining carbon availability.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis and tomato
Arabidopsis
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- shoot BRe0
- Outcome
- mutant root biomasse0
- Direction
- full rescuee0
- Qualifier
- determining root carbon availabilitye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“shoot BR, by determining root carbon availability, allows for a full rescue of mutant root biomass”
e1“both Arabidopsis and tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Loss of shoot BR attenuated root growth.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis and tomatoArabidopsisSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- loss of shoot BRe0
- Outcome
- root growthe0
- Direction
- attenuatese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“loss of shoot BR attenuates root growth”
e1“both Arabidopsis and tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Root BR shaped carbon distribution and root morphology through growth anisotropy and cell wall thickness.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis and tomatoArabidopsisSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- root BRe0
- Outcome
- root morphologye0
- Qualifier
- local regulation of growth anisotropy and cell wall thicknesse0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“root BR dictates the spatial distribution of carbon along the root, through local regulation of growth anisotropy and cell wall thickness, shaping root morphology”
e1“both Arabidopsis and tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The grow and branch model explained and predicted root growth and branching across genotypes and grafts.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis and tomatoArabidopsisSolanum lycopersicume1
- Outcome
- root growth dynamics and branching phenotypee0
- Comparator
- wild-type, BR-deficient mutants, and micro-graft combinationse0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“A newly developed "grow and branch" simulation model demonstrates that these shoot- and root-derived BR effects are sufficient to explain and predict root growth dynamics and branching phenotype in wild-type, BR-deficient mutants, and micro-graft combinations.”
e1“both Arabidopsis and tomato”
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