In the long-germband insect Drosophila, all body segments and posterior terminal structures, including the posterior gut and anal pads, are specified at the blastoderm stage. In short- and intermediate-germband insects, however, posterior segments are sequentially produced from the posterior growth zone, a process resembling somitogenesis in vertebrates, and invagination of the posterior gut st...

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the most salt-tolerant cereal crop and has excellent genetic and genomic resources. It is therefore a good model to study salt-tolerance mechanisms in cereals. We aimed to determine metabolic differences between a cultivated barley, Clipper (tolerant), and a North African landrace, Sahara (susceptible), previously shown to have contrasting root growth phenotypes i...

Annexins are assumed to be involved in regulating cotton fiber elongation, but direct evidence remains to be presented. Here we cloned six Annexin genes (AnxGb) abundantly expressed in fiber from sea-island cotton (G. barbadense). qRT-PCR results indicated that all six G. barbadense annexin genes were expressed in elongating cotton fibers, while only the expression of AnxGb6 was cotton fiber-sp...

Seedlings of maize (Zea mays L. cv WF9 x Mo 17) were grown in vermiculite at various water potentials. The primary root continued slow rates of elongation at water potentials which completely inhibited shoot growth. To gain an increased understanding of the root growth response, we examined the spatial distribution of growth at various water potentials. Time lapse photography of the growth of m...

Salinity is a severe abiotic stress that affects irrigated croplands. Jasmonate (JA) is an essential hormone involved in plant defense against herbivory and in responses to abiotic stress. However, the relationship between the salt stress response and the JA pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana is not well understood at molecular and cellular levels. In this work we investigated the activation of JA...

Progress in understanding the network of mechanisms involved in maize primary root growth maintenance under water deficits is reviewed. These include the adjustment of growth zone dimensions, turgor maintenance by osmotic adjustment, and enhanced cell wall loosening. The role of the hormone abscisic acid (ABA) in maintaining root growth under water deficits is also addressed. The research has t...

During germination, the embryo axis elongates and the radicle emerges through the surrounding structures of the seed. However, this elongation is not even along the axis, and it has been suggested that the region responsible for radicle protrusion is related to the type of subsequent seedling establishment. Eleven epigeal- and five hypogeal-type species were selected to study endoreduplication,...

Previous work suggested that an increase in cell wall-loosening contributes to the maintenance of maize (Zea mays 1.) primary root elongation at low water potentials (h). It was also shown that root elongation at low +w requires increased levels of abscisic acid (ABA). In this study we investigated the effects of low +w and ABA status on xyloglucan endotransglycosylase (XET) adivity in the root...

Plasticity, the hallmark of plant morphogenesis, extends to kinetics. To enhance acclimation, growing plant organs adeptly adjust their growth rate, up or down. In roots, rates of division and elemental expansion as well as the length of division and elongation zones are readily characterized because of their linear organization, radial symmetry, and indeterminate growth, and can be measured ac...

Cell wall proteins (CWPs) play important roles in various processes, including cell elongation. However, relatively little is known about the composition of CWPs in growing regions. We are using a proteomics approach to gain a comprehensive understanding of the identity of CWPs in the maize (Zea mays) primary root elongation zone. As the first step, we examined the effectiveness of a vacuum inf...