Root cap at soil interface: a driving force towards plant adaptation and
development
Abstract
Land plants harbour robust roots to grow in diverse soil ecosystems. The
distal end of the primary root tip has specialized tissue, called “root
cap.” The evolution of root cap-like structures in early plants
rudimentary roots and well-developed root caps in vascular plants hints
towards developing an adaptive trait for a localized plant habitat. Root
cap interacts with soil and assists roots in penetrating the below
ground, avoid/adsorb metals, uptake water, minerals, and regulates
rhizosphere microbiota that drives plant-soil feedback. Besides, the
root cap governs lateral root patterning and directs root growth in
varying conditions. This review article presents the retrospective and
our perspective on root cap characters for root-soil interaction. We
discussed the anatomy of root cap among the different taxa of land
plants and their relevance in diverse habitats and elucidated the root
cap functions under various growth conditions. We took advantage of
recently published single-cell RNAseq data and shed light on biological
relevance of root cap cell-type enriched genes from arabidopsis, rice,
maize, and tomato. Additionally, analyzed the transcription factor
binding site enrichment in root cap enriched genes and constructed
gene-regulatory networks operating in root cap to contribute its
multi-faceted role in plant growth and adaptation.