This book provides a comprehensive and interactive view of recent advances in the cytology, anatomy, and physiology of roots as presented at the 5th International Symposium on Structure and Function of Roots, held on 31 August-4 September, 1998, in Stará Lesná, Slovakia. This edition differs from previous ones by including some aspects of functional genetics and plant morphogenesis. The book is intended to serve both students and researchers as a valuable source of updated information, ideas, and concepts dealing with the most fundamental questions of development and function of plant roots.

Inhalt
I. Structural and Molecular Aspects of Root Growth and Development.- Histochemical analysis of root meristem activity in Arabidopsis thaliana using a cyclin:GUS (?-glucuronidase) marker line.- Ultrastructural effects of the herbicide chlorpropham (CIPC) in root tip cells of wheat.- Measurement of viscoelastic properties of root cell walls affected by low pH in lateral roots of Pisum sativum L..- Secondary dilatation growth in the root endodermis.- Changes of root structure in connection with the development of lateral root primordia in wheat and pumpkins.- Some aspects of endodermis and cortex structure in Dryas roots.- IAA and ZR content in leek (Allium porrum L.), as influenced by P nutrition and arbuscular mycorrhizae, in relation to plant development.- Polyploidy in tomato roots as affected by arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization.- II. Physiology of Water and Ion Uptake.- Water uptake by plant roots: an integration of views.- Root-shoot interactions in mineral nutrition.- Calcium channels in the plasma membrane of root cells: Their roles in mineral nutrition and cell signaling.- Nitrogen and base cation uptake in seedlings of Acer pseudoplatanus and Calamagrostis villosa exposed to an acidified environment.- Nitrate uptake by bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) roots under phosphate deficiency.- Nitrate reductase in roots: Succinate- and NADH-dependent plasma membrane-bound forms.- Impact of Agrobacterium tumefaciens-induced stem tumors on NO3? uptake in Ricinus communis.- Fast shoot responses to root treatment. Are hormones involved?.- III. Root Under Stress Conditions.- Response of tomato plants to chilling stress in association with nutrient or phosphorus starvation.- Effect of water stress upon root meristems of pea seedlings: The role of quantitative and qualitativechanges in protein patterns.- The distribution of lead in duckweed (Lemna minor L.) root tip.- Lead effects on cereal roots in terms of cell growth, root architecture and metal accumulation.- Diverse responses of root cell structure to aluminium stress.- Relationship between microtubule orientation and patterns of cell expansion in developing cortical cells of Lemna minor roots.