Researchers led by those from the National Centre of Biological Sciences of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bengaluru (NCBS-TIFR), have found a new pathway that regulates nitrate absorption in plants.
- The gene MADS27 regulates nitrate absorption, root development and stress tolerance.
- The gene MADS27 is activated by the micro-RNA, miR444, therefore offers a way to control these properties of the plant.
- The researchers studied this mechanism in both rice (monocot) and tobacco (dicot) plants. The research is published in Journal of Experimental Botany.
About Nitrogen
- Nitrogen is one of the most important macronutrients needed for development of a plant.
- It is a part of chlorophyll, amino acids and nucleic acids.
- It is mostly sourced from the soil where it is mainly absorbed in the form of nitrates and ammonium by the roots.
- Nitrates also play a role in controlling genome-wide gene expression that in turn regulates root system architecture, flowering time, leaf development, etc.
- The presence of nitrates is important for the plant development and also for grain production.
- The overuse of nitrates in fertilizers, for instance, can lead to the dumping of nitrates in the soil which leads to accumulation of nitrates in water and soil. This accumulation adds to soil and water pollution and increased contribution to greenhouse gases.
Monocots and dicots
- Flowering plants are divided into two groups – monocots and dicots.
- The names or these groups are derived from the number of cotyledons or seed leaves that the embryonic seedling has within its seed.
- A monocot, which an abbreviation for monocotyledon, will have only one cotyledon and a dicot, or dicotyledon, will have two cotyledons.
- A Leaves of dicots have veins that are branched. Sometimes the veins branch out on either side of the leaf from a middle vein, in an arrangement resembling a feather (pinnate arrangement). Other dicots have veins that branch out from a single vein, like fingers on a hand (palmate arrangement).
- Monocots have veins that are parallel to one another. However, this does not mean that all monocots have narrow grass-like leaves.
- If a plant is flowering, one can tell if it is a monocot or dicot by the number of petals and other flower parts.
- Monocots have flower parts in threes or multiples of threes .
- Dicots have flower parts in multiples of fours or fives.
- Dicots have a taproot system, with one large root at the base of the plant and smaller roots that branch out from it.
- The taproot was the first root that emerged from the seed, which is known as the radicle.
- Monocots have a root system that is composed of a network of fibrous roots. These roots all arose from the stem of the plant and are called adventitious roots.
(Source: The Hindu)
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