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Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification TRAP to Investigate Arabidopsis thaliana Root Development at a Cell Type-Specific Scale
Published on: May 14, 2020
Cyclic programmed cell death stimulates hormone signaling and root development in Arabidopsis
Wei Xuan1, Leah R Band2, Robert P Kumpf3
1Department of Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Technologiepark 927, 9052 Ghent, Belgium. Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Gent University, Technologiepark 927, 9052 Ghent, Belgium. State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement and MOA Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilization in Lower-Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, Nanjing Agricultural University, Weigang No. 1, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
Abstract:
The plant root cap, surrounding the very tip of the growing root, perceives and transmits environmental signals to the inner root tissues. In Arabidopsis thaliana, auxin released by the root cap contributes to the regular spacing of lateral organs along the primary root axis. Here, we show that the periodicity of lateral organ induction is driven by recurrent programmed cell death at the most distal edge of the root cap. We suggest that synchronous bursts of cell death in lateral root cap cells release pulses of auxin to surrounding root tissues, establishing the pattern for lateral root formation. The dynamics of root cap turnover may therefore coordinate primary root growth with root branching in order to optimize the uptake of water and nutrients from the soil.
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