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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

A redundant hydraulic function of root hairs in barley plants grown in hydroponics

Shannon Burke A , Emma Sadaune A * , Lisa Rognon A * , Alexane Fontana A * , Marianne Jourdrin A * and Wieland Fricke https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1514-1389 A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Republic of Ireland.

B Corresponding author. Email: wieland.fricke@ucd.ie

Functional Plant Biology - https://doi.org/10.1071/FP20287
Submitted: 10 September 2020  Accepted: 25 November 2020   Published online: 22 December 2020

Abstract

The root hair-less brb of Hordeum vulgare L. (bald root barley) mutant was used to assess the significance that root hairs have for the hydraulic properties of roots and response to a limited supply of mineral nutrients in plants grown on hydroponics. The barley brb mutant and its parent wild-type (H. vulgare cv. Pallas) were grown under nutrient sufficient control conditions, and under conditions of low supply of P and N. Plants were analysed when they were 14–18 days old. Root hydraulic conductivity (Lp) was determined for excised root systems and intact transpiring plants, and cell Lp was determined through cell pressure probe measurements. The formation of Casparian bands and suberin lamellae was followed through staining of cross-sections. The presence or absence of root hairs had no effect on the overall hydraulic response of plants to nutritional treatments. Root and cell Lp did not differ between the two genotypes. The most apparent difference between brb and wild-type plants was the consistently reduced formation of apoplastic barriers in brb plants. Any hydraulic function of root hairs can be redundant in barley, at least under the hydroponic conditions tested.

Keywords: barley, brb mutant, endodermis, Hordeum vulgare L., hydraulic conductivity, mineral nutrition, N deficiency, P deficiency, root hair.


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