Morphological Adaptations of A rabidopsis Roots to Nitrogen Supply

Higher plants display complex morphological adaptations in their root system to nitrogen availability. In Arabidopsis , four such adaptations have been well characterized, which include a stimulatory effect of a localized nitrate supply on lateral root elongation, a systemic inhibitory effect of high nitrate supply on lateral root development, the suppression of lateral root (LR)initiation by high C-N ratios and glutamate?induced regulation of root system architecture. Studies of these adaptations have revealed valuable insights about their underlying mechanisms, in particular those related to N sensing and root development, and also novel regulatory properties of nitrate transporters. The future challenges are to fully understand the mechanisms of the N?related morphological adaptations and to establish whether the adaptations found in Arabidopsis and their regulatory mechanisms are conserved in other plants and also the biological significance of the adaptations.