The third edition of a standard resource, this book offers a state-of-the-art, multi-disciplinary presentation of plant roots. It examines structure and development, assemblage of root systems, metabolism and growth, stressful environments, and interactions at the rhizosphere. Reflecting the explosion of advances and emerging technologies in the field, the book presents developments in the study of root origin, composition, formation, and behavior for the production of novel pharmaceutical and medicinal compounds, agrochemicals, dyes, flavors, and pesticides. It details breakthroughs in genetics, molecular biology, growth substance physiology, biotechnology, and biomechanics.

Biology for AP® courses covers the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester Advanced Placement® biology course. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology for AP® Courses was designed to meet and exceed the requirements of the College Board’s AP® Biology framework while allowing significant flexibility for instructors. Each section of the book includes an introduction based on the AP® curriculum and includes rich features that engage students in scientific practice and AP® test preparation; it also highlights careers and research opportunities in biological sciences.

Root research under natural field conditions is still a step-child of science. The reason for this is primarily methodological. The known methods are tedious, time consuming, and the accuracy of their results is often not very great. Many research workers have been discouraged by doing such root studies. The need for more information on the development and distribution of plant roots in different soils under various ecological conditions is, however, obvious in many ecological disciplines. Especially the applied botanical sciences such as agriculture, horticulture, and forestry are interested in obtaining more data on plant roots in the soil. This book will give a survey of existing methods in ecological root research. Primarily field methods are presented; techniques for pot experiments are described only so far as they are important for solving ecological problems. Laboratory methods for studying root physiology are not covered in this book. Scientific publications on roots are scattered in many different journals published all over the world. By working through the international root literature I found that about ten thousand papers on root ecology have been published at the present. This is not very much compared with the immense literature on the aboveground parts of the plants, but is, however, too much to cite in this book.

Charles E. Hess Department of Environmental Horticulture University of California Davis, CA 95616 Research in the biology of adventitious root formation has a special place in science. It provides an excellent forum in which to pursue fundamental research on the regulation of plant growth and development. At the same time the results of the research have been quickly applied by commercial plant propagators, agronomists, foresters and horticulturists (see the chapter by Kovar and Kuchenbuch, by Ritchie, and by Davies and coworkers in this volume). In an era when there is great interest in speeding technology transfer, the experiences gained in research in adventitious root formation may provide useful examples for other areas of science. Interaction between the fundamental and the applied have been and continue to be facilitated by the establishment, in 1951, of the Plant Propagators' Society, which has evolved into the International Plant Propagators' Society, with active programs in six regions around the world. It is a unique organization which brings together researchers in universities, botanical gardens and arboreta, and commercial plant propagators. In this synergistic environment new knowledge is rapidly transferred and new ideas for fundamental research evolve from the presentations and discussions by experienced plant propagators. In the past 50 years, based on research related to the biology of adventitious root formation, advances in plant propagation have been made on two major fronts.

This volume illustrates the complex root system, including the various essential roles of roots as well as their interaction with diverse microorganisms localized in or near the root system. Following initial chapters describing the anatomy and architecture as well as the growth and development of root systems, subsequent chapters focus on the various types of root symbiosis with bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere. A third section covers the physiological strategies of roots, such as nitrate assimilation, aquaporins, the role of roots in plant defense responses and in response to droughts and salinity changes. The book’s final chapters discuss the prospects of applied engineering of roots, i.e., inventing new root structures or functions through genetic modification, but also with conventional breeding and manipulation of root symbionts. The budding field of root engineering is expected to promote a second green revolution.

In the course of evolution, a great variety of root systems have learned to overcome the many physical, biochemical and biological problems brought about by soil. This development has made them a fascinating object of scientific study. This volume gives an overview of how roots have adapted to the soil environment and which roles they play in the soil ecosystem. The text describes the form and function of roots, their temporal and spatial distribution, and their turnover rate in various ecosystems. Subsequently, a physiological background is provided for basic functions, such as carbon acquisition, water and solute movement, and for their responses to three major abiotic stresses, i.e. hard soil structure, drought and flooding. The volume concludes with the interactions of roots with other organisms of the complex soil ecosystem, including symbiosis, competition, and the function of roots as a food source.

The physiological background; Relationships between roots and shoots; The groeth and form of root systems; The absorption and transport of nutrients; The water relations of plant root systems; Relationships between plant roots and the rhizosphere flora; The soil environment; Mechanical impedance of root growth; Effects of anaerobic soil conditions; The soil/root interface; Traditional and modern methods of tillage; Reduced cultivation, soil conditions and crop growth.

This second edition volume expands on the previous edition with an update on the latest techniques used to study plant systems biology on three specific scales: the molecular level, the tissue level, and the whole plant. Chapters cover topics such as gene regulatory network inference and dynamic modeling using ordinary differential equations or Boolean formalisms; protocols for at-will induction of plant aerial or root organs, or quantification of tissue mechanical properties; mathematical modeling of plant tissue using SimuPlant or VirtualLeaf; and simulating crop root systems using OpenSimRoot or R-SWMS. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols or software tutorials, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, Plants Systems Biology: Methods and Protocols, Second Edition is a valuable resource for plant biologists looking for different approaches to finding solutions to their questions and generating new ideas, as well as for students who desire to discover the field of plant systems biology.

The understanding of biological complexity has been greatly facilitated by cross-disciplinary, holistic approaches that allow insights into the function and regulation of biological processes that cannot be captured by dissecting them into their individual components. In addition, the development of novel tools has dramatically increased our ability to interrogate information at the nucleic acid, protein and metabolite level. The integration and interpretation of disparate data sets, however, still remain a major challenge in systems biology. Roots provide an excellent model for studying physiological, developmental, and metabolic processes. The availability of genetic resources, along with sequenced genomes has allowed important discoveries in root biochemistry, development and function. Roots are transparent, allowing optical investigation of gene activity in individual cells and experimental manipulation. In addition, the predictable fate of cells emerging from the root meristem and the continuous development of roots throughout the life of the plant, which permits simultaneous observation of different developmental stages, provide ideal premises for the analysis of growth and differentiation. Moreover, a genetically fixed cellular organization allows for studying the utilization of positional information and other non-cell-autonomous phenomena, which are of utmost importance in plant development. Although their ontogeny is largely invariant under standardized experimental conditions, roots possess an extraordinary capacity to respond to a plethora of environmental signals, resulting in distinct phenotypic readouts. This high phenotypic plasticity allows research into acclimative and adaptive strategies, the understanding of which is crucial for germplasm enhancement and crop improvement. With the aim of providing a current snapshot on the function and development of roots at the systems level, this Research Topic collated original research articles, methods articles, reviews, mini reviews and perspective, opinion and hypotheses articles that communicate breakthroughs in root biology, as well as recent advances in research technologies and data analysis.