Molecular control of the root angle in barley with Dr. Gwendolyn Kirschner (James Hutton Institute)

The root angle is crucial for shaping root system architecture and therefore access to soil resources. Throughout their life, roots maintain a specific angle in relation to the gravity vector, which depends on the root type, its developmental stage, as well as the environmental conditions. To date, we know how plants sense gravity, but it is largely unknown how they orient their root angle according to it. We used a transcriptomics approach to reveal key factors for root angle maintenance in barley seminal roots and identified candidate genes related to cytokinin. Understanding how the root angle setpoint in roots will allow us to precisely engineer a root system adapted to specific, otherwise unfavourable soil environments, and therefore support a more sustainable agriculture.

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