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Salt-induced plasticity of root hair development is caused by ion disequilibrium in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Abstract

Root hair development is controlled by environmental signals. Studies on root hair plasticity in Arabidopsis thaliana have mainly focused on phosphate and iron deficiency. Root hair growth and development and their physiological role in response to salt stress are largely unknown. Here, we show that root epidermal cell types and root hair development are highly regulated by salt stress. Root hair length and density decreased significantly in a dose-dependent manner on both primary roots and junction sites between roots and shoots. The root hair growth and development were sensitive to inhibition by ions but not to osmotic stress. High salinity also alters anatomical structure of roots, leading to a decrease in cell number in N positions and enlargement of the cells. Moreover, analysis of the salt overly sensitive mutants indicated that salt-induced root hair response is caused by ion disequilibrium and appears to be an adaptive mechanism that reduces excessive ion uptake. Finally, we show that genes WER, GL3, EGL3, CPC, and GL2 might be involved in cell specification of root epidermis in stressed plants. Taken together, data suggests that salt-induced root hair plasticity represents a coordinated strategy for early stress avoidance and tolerance as well as a morphological sign of stress adaptation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. S. Jian-kang Zhu and John Schiefelbein for providing sos mutants and GL2::GUS transgenic plant seeds, respectively. This study was supported by the Hundred Talents Program, Center of Agricultural Resources, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This project was supported in part by a Chinese NSFC grant (30570143).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 286 Huaizhong Road, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, 050021, People’s Republic of China

    Youning Wang, Wensheng Zhang, Kexue Li, Feifei Sun, Chunyu Han & Xia Li

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, People’s Republic of China

    Feifei Sun & Yukun Wang

  3. College of Agriculture, Hebei University of Engineering, 62 Huanan Street, Handan, Hebei, 056021, People’s Republic of China

    Yukun Wang

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  1. Youning Wang
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  2. Wensheng Zhang
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  7. Xia Li
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Correspondence to Xia Li.

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Wang, Y., Zhang, W., Li, K. et al. Salt-induced plasticity of root hair development is caused by ion disequilibrium in Arabidopsis thaliana . J Plant Res 121, 87–96 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-007-0123-y

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