Exploring the function of plant root diffusion barriers in sealing and shielding for environmental adaptation | Nature Plants

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Plant roots serve as the primary interface between the plant and the soil, encountering numerous challenges ranging from water balance to nutrient uptake. One of the central mechanisms enabling plants to thrive in diverse ecosystems is the building of apoplastic diffusion barriers. These barriers control the flow of solutes into and out of the roots, maintaining water and nutrient homeostasis. In this Review, we summarize recent advances in understanding the establishment, function and ecological significance of root apoplastic diffusion barriers. We highlight the plasticity of apoplastic diffusion barriers under various abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity and nutrient deficiency. We also propose new frontiers by discussing the current bottlenecks in the study of plant apoplastic diffusion barriers.

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We apologize to authors whose work is related to apoplastic barriers but cannot be cited in this Review because of limited space or our oversight. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 31930024 to D.Y.C.).

These authors contributed equally: Yi-Qun Gao, Yu Su.

School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, UK

Yi-Qun Gao

National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, CAS Centre for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

Yu Su & Dai-Yin Chao

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Y.-Q.G. and D.-Y.C. wrote the draft manuscript. Y.-Q.G. and Y.S. prepared the figures. Y.-Q.G., Y.S. and D.-Y.C. revised the manuscript.

Correspondence to Dai-Yin Chao.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Nature Plants thanks Tonni Andersen and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Gao, YQ., Su, Y. & Chao, DY. Exploring the function of plant root diffusion barriers in sealing and shielding for environmental adaptation. Nat. Plants 10, 1865–1874 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-024-01842-5

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Received: 08 July 2024

Accepted: 04 October 2024

Published: 05 December 2024

Issue Date: December 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-024-01842-5

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