Experimental and conceptual approaches to root water transport

BACKGROUND

Root water transport, which critically contributes to the plant water status and thereby plant productivity, has been the object of extensive experimental and theoretical studies. However, root systems represent an intricate assembly of cells in complex architectures, including many tissues at distinct developmental stages. Our comprehension of where and how molecular actors integrate their function in order to provide the root with its hydraulic properties is therefore still limited.

SCOPE

Based on current literature and prospective discussions, this review addresses how root water transport can be experimentally measured, what is known about the underlying molecular actors, and how elementary water transport processes are scaled up in numerical/mathematical models.

CONCLUSIONS

The theoretical framework and experimental procedures on root water transport that are in use today have been established a few decades ago. However, recent years have seen the appearance of new techniques and models with enhanced resolution, down to a portion of root or to the tissue level. These advances pave the way for a better comprehension of the dynamics of water uptake by roots in the soil.

Hydraulic conductivity and aquaporin transcription in roots of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) seedlings colonized by Laccaria bicolor

Ectomycorrhizal fungi have been reported to increase root hydraulic conductivity (L pr) by altering apoplastic and plasma membrane intrinsic protein (PIP)-mediated cell-to-cell water transport pathways in associated roots, or to have little effect on root water transport, depending on the interacting species and imposed stresses. In this study, we investigated the water transport properties and PIP transcription in roots of aspen (Populus tremuloides) seedlings colonized by the wild-type strain of Laccaria bicolor and by strains overexpressing a major fungal water-transporting aquaporin JQ585595. Inoculation of aspen seedlings with L. bicolor resulted in about 30 % colonization rate of root tips, which developed dense mantle and the Hartig net that was restricted in the modified root epidermis. Transcript abundance of the aspen aquaporins PIP1;2, PIP2;1, and PIP2;2 decreased in colonized root tips. Root colonization by JQ585595-overexpressing strains had no significant impact on seedling shoot water potentials, gas exchange, or dry mass; however, it led to further decrease in transcript abundance of PIP1;2 and PIP2;3 and the significantly lower L pr than in non-inoculated roots. These results, taken together with our previous study that showed enhanced root water hydraulics of L. bicolor-colonized white spruce (Picea glauca), suggest that the impact of L. bicolor on root hydraulics varies by the ectomycorrhiza-associated tree species.