Effects of high temperature on root growth and root hair development in Arabidopsis

Abstract

The intensifying climate threatens global plant diversity and crop production, with a major role for the higher incidence and severity of heat waves. The impact of high temperatures on the effects on the below-ground roots is much more limited. Because in natural environments, high temperature stress is often coupled with drought, in this study, we first explored the response of primary root elongation to high temperature, drought, and the combined effect of high temperature and drought. As we noted high sensitivity of root hairs to high temperature stress, we subsequently investigated how the formation of root hairs is inhibited under high temperature stress. This study can provide a theoretical foundation for the practice of crop improvement, such as screening for phenotypic traits of high temperature resistance and carrying out genetic engineering breeding.