Publications – ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING

Publications

February 19, 2026

The mechanical properties of Arabidopsis thaliana roots adapt dynamically during development and to stress

Luis Alonso Baez et al., The mechanical properties of Arabidopsis thaliana roots adapt dynamically during development and to stress. Sci. Adv. 12,eaeb0032(2026).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.aeb0032

Hydrosensing

Publications

February 12, 2026

Transgenerational polarity axis inheritance during Ceratopterisembryogenesis

Woudenberg, S., Plackett, A. R., Hao, Z., Suzuki, H., Baez, L. A., Borassi, C., ... & Weijers, D. (2025). Transgenerational polarity axis inheritance during Ceratopteris embryogenesis. bioRxiv, 2025-08 https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.29.673061

Hydrosensing

a, Semi-thin sections (2 µm thickness, 1 cm from root tip) of WT, arf1-1, OE-ARF1, cesa6 and arf1cesa6 lines. Scale bar=50 µm.

Publications

February 2, 2026

Ethylene modulates cell wall mechanics for root responses to compaction

Zhang, J., Liu, Z., Farrar, E.J. et al. Ethylene modulates cell wall mechanics for root responses to compaction. Nature 649, 685–692 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09765-7

Hydrosensing

Publications

January 27, 2026

Developmental pathways in plants: Lessons from Arabidopsis for crop innovation

Malcolm J Bennett, Rahul Bhosale, Scott A Boden, Shu-Yan Chen, Tino Colombi, Toshiro Ito, Hong-Ju Li, Poonam Mehra, Lars Østergaard, Meng Li, Liu Liu, Nana Otsuka, Bipin K Pandey, Scott Poethig, Kalika Prasad, Yue Qu, Makoto Shirakawa, Ying Hua Su, Cao Xu, Wei-Cai Yang, Wen Jie Zhang, Xiaolan Zhang, Xian…

Hydrosensing

Image: Description and validation of pMDS plasmid system for dual analysis of transcription and translation in plants. (A) Organization of pMDS1 vector showing reporters for transcription [mTurquoise (mTurQ)], translation (C-terminal mVenus), and a 2A self-cleaving peptide. (B) Organization of pMDS2 vector showing reporters for transcription (mTurQ), translation (N-terminal mVenus), and a 2A self-cleaving peptide. (C) Confocal image of pMDS1_SHRpro:SHR:mVenus:mTurQ showing gene expression (mTurQ) in the stele region and protein (mVenus) translocating to endodermis in the root meristem. (D) Confocal image of pMDS2_VAM3pro:mVenus:VAM3:mTurQ showing subcellular expression (mTurQ) in the nucleus and protein (mVenus) moving to the vacuole in the root epidermis. Red channel shows mCherry expression. nu, nucleus; vac, vacuole; *, endodermis of root meristem. Scale bar, 10 μM. Credit: Science Advances

Publications

January 21, 2026

Elucidating tissue and subcellular specificity of the entire SUMO network reveals how stress responses are fine-tuned in a eukaryote

Jason Banda et al. Elucidating tissue and subcellular specificity of the entire SUMO network reveals how stress responses are fine-tuned in a eukaryote Science Advances 11,eadw9153(2025). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adw9153

Hydrosensing

Publications

January 20, 2026

mTACT: A cell type-specific transportome-scale amiRNA toolbox to overcome functional redundancy in Arabidopsis

Moran Anfang, Shir Ben Yaakov, Ning Su, Anat Shafir, Jenia Binenbaum, Reem Haj Yahya, Xikai Yu, Carl Procko, Hamtual Bar, Joanne Chory, Julian I Schroeder, Yosef Fichman, Itay Mayrose, Eilon Shani, Yuqin Zhang, mTACT: A cell type-specific transportome-scale amiRNA toolbox to overcome functional redundancy in Arabidopsis, Plant Physiology, 2025;, kiaf682, https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiaf682

Hydrosensing

Image: Short-day Arabidopsis plants experiment for drought and ABA2 content. Credit: Barak Bitman, Tel Aviv University

Publications

November 3, 2025

In defense of funding foundational plant science

Joanna D Friesner, Cristiana T Argueso, Wolfgang Busch, Thorsten Hamann, Lucia Strader, Mary Williams, Shuang Wu, Adrienne H K Roeder, In defense of funding foundational plant science, The Plant Cell, Volume 37, Issue 5, May 2025, koaf106, https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koaf106

Hydrosensing

Image: Thermal imaging of tomato. Credit: Barak Bitman, Tel Aviv University

Publications

August 31, 2025

Arabidopsis research in 2030: Translating the computable plant

Brady, S., Auge, G., Ayalew, M., Balasubramanian, S., Hamann, T., Inze, D., ... & Provart, N. J. (2025). Arabidopsis research in 2030: Translating the computable plant. The Plant Journal, 121(5), e70047.

Hydrosensing

Publications

July 17, 2025

Consensus statement on Brillouin light scattering microscopy of biological materials

Bouvet, P., Bevilacqua, C., Ambekar, Y., Antonacci, G., Au, J., Caponi, S., ... & Elsayad, K. (2025). Consensus statement on Brillouin light scattering microscopy of biological materials. Nature Photonics, 19(7), 681-691. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-025-01681-6

Hydrosensing

Publications

June 16, 2025

Redox-regulated Aux/IAA multimerization modulates auxin responses

Roy, D., Mehra, P., Clark, L., Mukkawar, V., Bellande, K., Martin-Arevalillo, R., ... & Sadanandom, A. (2025). Redox-regulated Aux/IAA multimerization modulates auxin responses. Science, eadu1470. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu1470

Hydrosensing

Publications

June 6, 2025

Future crop breeding needs to consider future soils

Raza, S., Pandey, B.K., Hawkesford, M.J. et al. Future crop breeding needs to consider future soils. Nature Plants 11, 939–941 (2025). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-025-01977-z

Hydrosensing

Schematic overview illustrating the library workflow, from design to screening. All coding genes were divided into phylogenetic trees, and trees were classified by function. sgRNAs were designed to target multiple genes located in close proximity to one another phylogenetically (indicated by colors). Each sgRNA was cloned into the Cas9 vector, creating a plasmid library. Transformed lines were screened with multi-targeted, large-scale, forward genetics for specific traits of interest, revealing hidden phenotypes. *Whole genome indicates all coding genes excluding transporters, transcription factors, and enzymes.

Publications

May 5, 2025

Construction of multi-targeted CRISPR libraries in tomato to overcome functional redundancy at genome-scale level

Berman, A., Su, N., Li, Z. et al. Construction of multi-targeted CRISPR libraries in tomato to overcome functional redundancy at genome-scale level. Nat Commun 16, 4111 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59280-6

Hydrosensing

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08941-z

Publications

May 2, 2025

Single-cell transcriptomics reveal how root tissues adapt to soil stress

Zhu, M., Hsu, C. W., Peralta Ogorek, L. L., Taylor, I. W., La Cavera, S., Oliveira, D. M., ... & Pandey, B. K. (2025). Single-cell transcriptomics reveal how root tissues adapt to soil stress. Nature, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08941-z

Hydrosensing

Double knockdown of ABCG17 and ABCG18 leads to changes in ABA response in the valves. A, pRAB18:GFP signal in mir17,g18 and Control siliques at 4 DAP. mir17,g18 is mir17 (amiRNA-ABCG17) transformed into the background of abcg18-1 T-DNA insertion line. Shown are two independent transformation lines (#1 and #5). Green is GFP fluorescent signal, and red is chlorophyll. Scale bar = 50 m. B, Average (±SD) GFP intensities in indicated lines. n ≥ 4; *, P value < 0.05, **, P value < 0.01, Student’s t test

Publications

March 21, 2025

ABA importers ABCG17 and ABCG18 redundantly regulate seed size in Arabidopsis

Zhang, Y., Anfang, M., Rowe, J.H., Rizza, A., Li, Z., Su, N., Bar, H., Charrier, L., Geisler, M., Jones, A.M. and Shani, E. (2025), ABA importers ABCG17 and ABCG18 redundantly regulate seed size in Arabidopsis. Plant J, 121: e70096. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70096

Hydrosensing

Dynamic interactions at the root–soil interface.(e) high-resolution X-ray computed tomography images reveal how plant roots impact the structural development of the rhizosphere by causing changes in soil pore thickness over time. Panel e adapted from Reference 48 (CC BY 4.0).

Publications

March 20, 2025

Root Growth and Development in “Real Life”: Advances and Challenges in Studying Root–Environment Interactions

Mehra, P., Banda, J., Ogorek, L. L. P., Fusi, R., Castrillo, G., Colombi, T., ... & Bennett, M. J. (2025). Root Growth and Development in “Real Life”: Advances and Challenges in Studying Root–Environment Interactions. Annual Review of Plant Biology, 76. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-arplant-083123-074506

Hydrosensing

Fig. 1. Hydropatterning responses revealed in public sector breeding lines of Zea mays (maize)

Publications

February 24, 2025

Moisture-responsive root-branching pathways identified in diverse maize breeding germplasm

Scharwies, J. D., Clarke, T., Zheng, Z., Dinneny, A., Birkeland, S., Veltman, M. A., … & Dinneny, J. R. (2025). Moisture-responsive root-branching pathways identified in diverse maize breeding germplasm. Science, 387(6734), 666-673. https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.ads5999 .

Hydrosensing

Fig. 1. Hormones mediate root responses to water availability. (A) Under homogeneous water distribution in soil, lateral roots (LRs) develop symmetrically, resulting in a uniform root system. (B) Root tips show hydrotropism and bend towards areas with high water potential. ABA drives asymmetric expansion of cortical cells on the convex side of roots facing low water potential by the action of SnRK2.2. Both ABA and BR promote hydrotropism via the activity of the proton pump AHA2. Cytokinin (in red) exhibits asymmetric distribution at the root tip to regulate hydrotropism. (C) Growing root tips pause branching in air gaps (xerobranching). Lack of moisture triggers ABA release from the stele (st) to the outer root tissues, blocking the radial inward symplastic movement of auxin to pause root branching. ABA-mediated repression is relieved in the presence of water. ep, epidermis; co, cortex; en, endodermis.

Publications

February 18, 2025

Roles of Hormones in Regulating Root Growth-Water Interactions

Sharma, S., Bennett, M. J., & Mehra, P. (2025). Roles of Hormones in Regulating Root Growth-Water Interactions. Journal of Experimental Botany, eraf063 https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraf063

Hydrosensing

Image: graphical abstract. Credit: Current Biology.

Publications

January 23, 2025

ABA-auxin cascade regulates crop root angle in response to drought

Xiong, Y., Song, X., Mehra, P., Yu, S., Li, Q., Tashenmaimaiti, D., ... & Huang, G. (2025). ABA-auxin cascade regulates crop root angle in response to drought. Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.12.003

Hydrosensing

Hydropatterning responses revealed in public sector breeding lines of Zea mays (maize). (A and B) Schematic of the (A) hydropatterning response in (B) our custom-built hydropatterning assay. Primary roots of maize seedlings are grown in a vertical position along moist paper while being prevented from growing off the paper by a mesh cover. Lateral root (LR) primordia are preferentially induced towards the water-saturated paper (contact-side) and suppressed on the air-exposed side (air-side). Longitudinal cross-section of maize root (B73 inbred) stained with Calcofluor White (cell walls; gray) and SYBR Green (LRs; green). (C and D) Distribution of (C) contact-(blue) and air-side (white) LR densities from 250 maize inbred lines characterized using the hydropatterning assay and calculated (D) percent air-side LRs (purple). Each inbred line is represented by its median value (n = 1-3 seedlings/inbred) (data S2). Gray lines connect corresponding inbred lines. Population median (white circles). (E) X-ray Computed Tomography showing LR patterning on primary roots of strong (CI64) and weak (OH7B) hydropatterning inbred lines grown through an air-filled macropore in soil.

Publications

December 31, 2024

Maize genetic diversity identifies moisture-dependent root-branch signaling pathways

Scharwies, J. D., Clarke, T., Zheng, Z., Dinneny, A., Birkeland, S., Veltman, M. A., ... & Dinneny, J. R. (2024). Maize genetic diversity identifies moisture-dependent root-branch signaling pathways. bioRxiv, 2024-08. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.26.609741

Hydrosensing

Roots employ several classes of hormones including rhizocrine signals that spend time outside of plant tissues in the rhizosphere. A schematic diagram illustrating (A) a longitudinal cross-section of a root growing in soil, and (D–E) examples of the contrasting modes of action for different hormone classes (denoted as yellow circles) involving (D) endocrine signalling (i.e. acting in other organs after long-distance transport), and (E) rhizocrine signalling, where this class of hormone moves outside its root source via the soil (denoted by the blue arrow), returning to the root in response to a soil stress (denoted by the red arrow), triggering an adaptive response, denoted by the green arrow and receptor binding of the hormone signal.

Publications

December 31, 2024

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

Pandey, B. K., George, T. S., Cooper, H. V., Sturrock, C. J., Bennett, T., & Bennett, M. J. (2024). Root RADAR: how ‘rhizocrine’signals allow roots to detect and respond to their soil environment and stresses. Journal of Experimental Botany, erae490. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae490

Hydrosensing