tests the suitability of using mannitol as an osmoticum during experiments. Pressure probe and SiCSA techniques The expanding maize root tip Use of the cell pressure probe (Htisken et aI. , 1978) and single-cell sampling and analysis (SiCSA; Tomos Individual cells expand to many times their ongl et aI. , 1994) provide an approach to study plant water nal length as they progress from the meristem to the and solute relations at the resolution of the individual mature zone of root tips. The expansion first accel cell. In the case of water relations, the pressure probe erates and then decelerates, stopping at the proximal provides the only technique that measures cell tur end of the expansion zone (Pritchard, 1994). This is gor pressure, and hence turgor adjustment processes, accomplished at constant ceJl turgor (P) and with a loss directly. In some cases, such as the motor cells of pul of osmotic (7l'j) pressure in the order of 15% (wheat: vini or in the stomatal complex, turgor varies between Tomos et aI. , 1989; maize: Pritchard et aI. , 1993; adjacent cells - making analysis at single cell resolu Pritchard and Tomos, 1993). The constant turgor indi tion essential for understanding mechanisms (Irving et cates that changes in cell-wall mechanical properties, aI. , 1994). Correlating turgor pressure measurements rather than driving force, are responsible for the imme with cell expansion rate permits unique measurement diate control of expansion-rate in roots (Pritchard et aI.

Klappentext

The book provides an overview of root biology, ranging from studies at the molecular, genetic and cellular levels to a level that puts the root within the context of whole-plant studies. Rarely has such a prestigious line-up of authors, all famed for their innovative work on roots, been brought together in one volume for a concise but comprehensive survey of root structure and function.

Inhalt

1. Mutational analysis of root initiation in the Arabidopsis embryo.- 2. Turgor-regulation during extension growth and osmotic stress of maize roots. An example of single-cell mapping.- 3. Microtubular cytoskeleton and root morphogenesis.- 4. Roots of willow (Salix viminalis L.) show marked tolerance to oxygen shortage in flooded soils and in solution culture.- 5. Rol genes and root initiation and development.- 6. Variation, co-ordination and compensation in root systems in relation to soil variability.- 7. Water transport in plants: Role of the apoplast.- 8. The molecular basis of potassium nutrition in plants.- 9. Root apical organization in Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype 'WS' and a comment on root cap structure.- 10. Experimental and genetic analysis of root development in Arabidopsis thaliana.- 11. A biophysical analysis of root growth under mechanical stress.- 12. Metal-gene-interactions in roots: metallothionein-like genes and iron reductases.- 13. Molecular responses of roots related to fungal colonisation in arbuscular mycorrhiza.- 14. Legume and actinorhizal root nodule formation.- 15. Responses of roots to low temperatures and nitrogen forms.