Root RADAR: how ‘rhizocrine’ signals allow roots to detect and respond to their soil environment and stresses

TY - JOUR

T1 - Root RADAR

T2 - how ‘rhizocrine’ signals allow roots to detect and respond to their soil environment and stresses

AU - Pandey, Bipin K.

AU - George, Timothy S.

AU - Cooper, Hannah V.

AU - Sturrock, Craig J.

AU - Bennett, Tom

AU - Bennett, Malcolm J.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2025/4/9

Y1 - 2025/4/9

N2 - Agricultural intensification coupled with changing climate are causing soils to become increasingly vulnerable to stresses such as drought, soil erosion, and compaction. The mechanisms by which roots detect and respond to soil stresses remain poorly understood. Recent breakthroughs show that roots release volatile and soluble hormone signals into the surrounding soil, then monitor their levels to sense soil stresses. Our review discusses how hormones can act ‘outside the plant’ as ‘rhizocrine’ signals that function to improve plant resilience to different soil stresses. We also propose a novel signalling paradigm which we term ‘root RADAR’ where ‘rhizocrine’ levels change in soil in response to environmental stresses, feeding back to roots and triggering adaptive responses.

AB - Agricultural intensification coupled with changing climate are causing soils to become increasingly vulnerable to stresses such as drought, soil erosion, and compaction. The mechanisms by which roots detect and respond to soil stresses remain poorly understood. Recent breakthroughs show that roots release volatile and soluble hormone signals into the surrounding soil, then monitor their levels to sense soil stresses. Our review discusses how hormones can act ‘outside the plant’ as ‘rhizocrine’ signals that function to improve plant resilience to different soil stresses. We also propose a novel signalling paradigm which we term ‘root RADAR’ where ‘rhizocrine’ levels change in soil in response to environmental stresses, feeding back to roots and triggering adaptive responses.

KW - Ethylene

KW - plant hormone

KW - rhizosphere

KW - root

KW - soil stress

KW - strigolactone

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105004014409

U2 - 10.1093/jxb/erae490

DO - 10.1093/jxb/erae490

M3 - Review article

C2 - 39707161

AN - SCOPUS:105004014409

SN - 0022-0957

VL - 76

SP - 1500

EP - 1509

JO - Journal of Experimental Botany

JF - Journal of Experimental Botany

IS - 6

ER -