About this Research Topic

Background

This Research Topic aims to collect selected contributions from the 2nd D(dark-grown)-root Meeting, held in Vienna, Austria, on March 4-5, 2020.

Plant performance is strongly affected by environmental conditions. Specifically, roots have evolved manifold responses to environmental changes, including the escape mechanism from unilateral light illumination. The positive phototropic growth away from the light source was found to accelerate stress responses after the root was exposed to additional stimuli. Root growth, development, and defense mechanisms are altered in response to changing light conditions and were shown to be even opposite if the root was grown in fully illuminated conditions or in darkness.

Photoreceptor distribution and function in roots is a growing field of investigation. With new experimental setups to grow roots in darkness while keeping the root available for microscopic examination and molecular biology is allowing us to gather new information about the role of photoreceptors and crosstalk during root growth adaptation processes. These studies are more and more in focus, as crop plants experience drastic changes in environmental conditions, and a healthy root ensures the survival of the plant.

First dark-grown experiments with the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana as well as with monocots such as barley, rice and wheat show that enhanced root illumination is coupled with elevated stress responses. The D-root meeting was set up to bring scientists together to present, share and discuss new results of studying the Root system architecture (RSA) including morphological as well as molecular mechanisms of roots grown under more natural light conditions.

First mentioned in 2015, the community working with the D-root device is strongly growing and comprises researchers with basic and applied plant background working with Arabidopsis thaliana or cereals. In the scope of this Research Topic, we want to encourage colleagues to submit papers describing innovative systems to grow roots in darkness and further how reduced root illumination affects photoreceptor activity, signaling, root growth and adaptation processes, including changes in phytohormone activity, like auxin which is known to be a crucial player modulating root architecture and response. Therefore, we are interested in manuscripts dealing with the:
1) Experimental setup including new and innovative D-root devices
2) Effect of light on root-morphology
3) Impact of light at the molecular, metabolomic, and proteome level in roots

Contributors are welcome to submit Original Research, Methods, Mini-reviews and Review articles and Perspective Articles.

Keywords: Phytobiology, Root, Phenotyping, Adaptation, Root-illumination

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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