In the vast plant kingdom, roots serve as vital “mouths” through which they absorb water and nutrients, anchor themselves, grow, and thrive in the face of environmental challenges.
However, the complex mechanisms behind plant root growth have long remained a mystery. Now, important research has solved this puzzle, revealing a surprising connection between plant root growth and a biological process familiar to those who practice fasting.
Autophagy is a key player in plant root growth
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen Department of BiologyA research team led by Assistant Professor Eleazar Rodriguez has discovered that a beneficial purification mechanism called autophagy plays a key role in plant root growth and strength.
Autophagy, which also exists in humans and is gaining popularity as part of a health trend, helps cells process various waste products during periods without food.
“Fasting has become popular because it appears to have many benefits for improving human health. During periods of not eating, the body undergoes purification processes to dispose of various waste products within the cells. “It activates the body,” explains Assistant Professor Eleazar Rodríguez.
“Our research demonstrated that the same mechanism, which also exists in the plant kingdom, plays an important role in the ability of plant roots to grow and absorb water and nutrients to the rest of the plant. ” Rodriguez continued.
Understanding autophagy
The process of autophagy acts as a cellular recycling system, breaking down and recycling old, damaged, or unnecessary components within cells.
In doing so, autophagy maintains cellular health, promotes survival during stress, and plays important roles in various physiological processes.
3 types of autophagy
Cells perform autophagy through three major pathways.
- macro autophagy: This is the most well-known form of autophagy and is often referred to simply as “autophagy.” In this process, double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes engulf cellular components and fuse with lysosomes, where their contents are degraded.
- micro autophagy: In this process, lysosomes directly engulf small parts of the cytoplasm, including proteins and organelles, through the invagination of its membrane.
- Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA): This highly selective process targets specific proteins containing specific amino acid sequences. These proteins are recognized by chaperone proteins and transported directly to lysosomes for degradation.
Benefits of autophagy
Autophagy provides many benefits to cells and organisms.
- cell cleanup: Autophagy maintains cell health by removing damaged or dysfunctional components and prevents the accumulation of toxic substances that cause disease.
- nutrient recycling: During periods of starvation or stress, autophagy breaks down cellular components to generate energy and building blocks needed for essential processes.
- immune defense: Autophagy helps protect cells by targeting and breaking down invading pathogens such as bacteria and viruses.
- longevity: Increased autophagy is thought to be associated with longer lifespans in a variety of organisms, from yeast to mammals, which likely helps maintain cellular health and prevent age-related diseases. This may be due to the role.
As research continues to uncover the complex mechanisms and far-reaching effects of autophagy, it is becoming clear that this cellular self-cleansing process plays an important role in maintaining health and preventing disease in a variety of organisms, from plants to humans. It’s becoming increasingly clear.
Root growth has a heartbeat
It is well known that the plant hormone auxin controls plant growth, including root growth. Auxin acts as fuel for a kind of heartbeat that pulsates at the tip of each root of a plant.
Every 4 to 6 hours, auxin levels and pulsations in the plant’s roots reach a maximum, triggering new root growth.
“The movement of the roots is like watching a snake slithering forward in search of water and nutrients in the soil, and you can see that the heartbeat is at its strongest with each meandering of the roots,” says Eleazar.・Rodriguez says.
Role of autophagy in plant root growth
To understand the importance of autophagy in root growth, the researchers disabled the cleanup mechanism in their experiments. The results were amazing.
“In our experiment, we disabled the cleanup mechanism to understand its importance. If all garbage collectors in Copenhagen went on strike, it wouldn’t be long before garbage flooded the streets. ” says Rodriguez.
Scientists observed exactly the same thing happening in plant cells, as the heartbeats that drive root growth became much weaker and out of sync.
This led the researchers to conclude that autophagy helps maintain the perfect balance of various biochemical components, allowing for the most efficient root growth.
Impact on climate change
New knowledge about plant roots could have a significant impact on the fight against climate change. Food security is increasingly threatened as prolonged droughts and floods become more common. Crops with roots that can grow under these harsh conditions are very important.
“Today, numerous methods are available for changing the genetic characteristics of plants. These can be used to make plant roots develop longer and faster, thereby making them more resistant to drought and flooding. ,” explains Dr. student Jeppe Ansboll, co-author of the study.
“One way is to change the growth pattern of plants with the help of bacteria that live symbiotically with the plants. Several companies in Denmark are currently working on this,” Ansboll said.
Researchers believe this new knowledge may apply to all flowering plants. In principle, crops such as tomatoes, potatoes, rice, wheat and corn could grow more, denser roots thanks to a newfound understanding of how plants grow roots. It can be modified as follows.
Impact of autophagy discovery on plant root growth
The discovery of the role of autophagy in plant root growth represents an important step forward in our understanding of plants.
“The more roots a plant has, the more water and nutrients it can absorb, so the faster it grows. Plants nourish us, extract CO2 from the atmosphere, and provide the air we breathe.” To produce oxygen, we rely heavily on plants. Therefore, it is very important to fully understand them, and we have just taken a big step towards that,” Rodriguez concludes. I attached it.
In summary, by leveraging this new knowledge and applying innovative techniques such as genetic modification and bacterial symbiosis, we can develop more widespread and efficient systems with the ability to absorb water and nutrients even under difficult environmental conditions. It is possible to develop plants with a strong root system.
As we continue to unravel the mysteries of plant biology, we move closer to ensuring food security and sustainability in an ever-changing world and are reminded of the critical importance of understanding the complex mechanisms that sustain life on Earth. Let me.
The entire study was published in the journal EMBO report.
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