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Updated: Mar 21, 2026

Lateral Root Inducible System in Arabidopsis and Maize
Published on: January 14, 2016
Strigolactones are required for nitric oxide to induce root elongation in response to nitrogen and phosphate
Huwei Sun1,2, Yang Bi1, Jinyuan Tao1
1State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, and Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilization in Low-Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
Abstract:
The response of the root system architecture to nutrient deficiencies is critical for sustainable agriculture. Nitric oxide (NO) is considered a key regulator of root growth, although the mechanisms remain unknown. Phenotypic, cellular and genetic analyses were undertaken in rice to explore the role of NO in regulating root growth and strigolactone (SL) signalling under nitrogen-deficient and phosphate-deficient conditions (LN and LP). LN-induced and LP-induced seminal root elongation paralleled NO production in root tips. NO played an important role in a shared pathway of LN-induced and LP-induced root elongation via increased meristem activity. Interestingly, no responses of root elongation were observed in SL d mutants compared with wild-type plants, although similar NO accumulation was induced by sodium nitroprusside (SNP) application. Application of abamine (the SL inhibitor) reduced seminal root length and pCYCB1;1::GUS expression induced by SNP application in wild type; furthermore, comparison with wild type showed lower SL-signalling genes in nia2 mutants under control and LN treatments and similar under SNP application. Western blot analysis revealed that NO, similar to SL, triggered proteasome-mediated degradation of D53 protein levels. Therefore, we presented a novel signalling pathway in which NO-activated seminal root elongation under LN and LP conditions, with the involvement of SLs.
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