New research from UC Riverside identifies a protein that controls plant growth — good news for an era in which crops can get crushed by climate change. Researchers found the protein, IRK, while looking for clues to the ways plant cells divide or expand. They discovered IRK in the root cells of a plant related to mustard.
The team’s work on IRK was recently published in Developmental Cell. The research demonstrates that turning off the gene producing IRK causes an increase in the number of times the plant’s root cells divide. Additional cells can lead to bigger roots, and perhaps to plants that are better at taking up nutrients from the soil and grow larger.
This research is notable not only for its potential impact on crop and food security, but also because roots have historically been less well studied than the above-ground parts of plants. This is likely due to the relatively inaccessible nature of roots, Van Norman said.
However, the roots are critical for plant survival and for the production of above-ground plant organs such as leaves flowers and fruits. Therefore, understanding their function and development is critical in efforts to improve crop productivity.
Previous research has examined the role of signals sent between cells up and down the plant from the roots up toward the shoots and vice versa. This study shows communication between cells across the root is important as well. Read more https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2020/01/13/research-identifies-possible-onoff-switch-plant-growth