What is it about?
Lateral root initiation index (LRI) shows that nitric oxide can both promote and inhibit lateral root formation. LRI permits normalization of the density data if there are differences in cell length resulting from a treatment or a genotype. Based on this parameter, nitric oxide is a potent inhibitor of lateral root initiation.
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Why is it important?
To understand how lateral root initiation is controlled in different groups of plants, including crops, under different environmental conditions, we need a simple and reliable method for analysis and comparison. Simple counts of emerged lateral roots and even primordia are not sufficient to discover whether a certain factor (genotype or a treatment) affects a process of lateral root initiation. It is illustrated in this work that nitric oxide has a dual action on root branching and, when evaluated on a cellular basis with the aid of lateral root initiation index, nitric oxide both promotes and inhibits root branching in different root portions. Previously we knew only about the promoting effect.
Perspectives
This new parameter, the lateral root initiation index, provides researchers with the ability to uncover hidden but important information about root initiation and branching. This index can be used for any crop species and was successfully applied in maize root branching studies (Husakova et al., 2013, Ann Bot, 112: 417–428). We hope that the scientific community will recognize the value and ease of use of this parameter in developmental analysis.
Professor Joseph G. Dubrovsky
IBT-UNAM
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Heuristic Aspect of the Lateral Root Initiation Index: A Case Study of the Role of Nitric Oxide in Root Branching, Applications in Plant Sciences, October 2013, Botanical Society of America,
DOI: 10.3732/apps.1300029.
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