Root architecture shaping by the environment is orchestrated by dynamic gene expression in space and time
First author:Liam Walker; Affiliations: University of Warwick(华威大学): Coventry, UK
Corresponding author:Miriam L Gifford
Shaping of root architecture (根结构) is a quintessential (典型的) developmental response that involves the concerted (协调的) action of many different cell types, is highly dynamic and underpins (基础) root plasticity (根可塑性). To determine to what extent the environmental regulation of lateral root (侧根) development is a product of cell type preferential (优先的) activities, we tracked transcriptomic responses to two different treatments that both change root development in Arabidopsis thaliana, at an unprecedented (前所未有的) level of temporal (时间的) detail. We found that individual transcripts are expressed with a very high degree of temporal and spatial specificity, yet biological processes are commonly regulated, in a mechanism we term response non-redundancy (非冗余). Using causative gene network inference to compare the genes regulated in different cell types and during responses to nitrogen (氮) and a biotic interaction (生物互作) we found that common transcriptional modules often regulate the same gene families, but control different individual members of these families, specific to response and cell type. This reinforces (加强) that the activity of a gene cannot be defined simply as molecular function; rather, it is a consequence of spatial location, expression timing and environmental responsiveness.
