The primary root is an organ which forms at the root pole of the plant embryo.
Keywords: tap root; lateral root; metamer; gravitropism
Primary Root
Peter W Barlow, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Published online: April 2001
DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0002059
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Figure 1. Section through an imbibing grain and embryo of maize (Zea mays). The primary root with its root cap has not yet emerged and is still enclosed within an ensheathing coleorhiza.
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Figure 2. Germinated maize seedlings, each with an unbranched primary root.
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| References | |
| Berger F, Haseloff J, Schiefelbein J and Dolan L (1998) Positional information in root epidermis is defined during embryogenesis and acts in domains with strict boundaries. Current Biology 8: 421–430. | |
| book Clark LG and Fisher JB (1987) "Vegetative morphology of grasses: shoots and roots". In: Soderstrom TR, Hilu KW, Campbell CS and Barkworth ME (eds) Grass Systematics and Evolution, pp. 37–45. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. | |
| book Pilet PE (1980) "Hormonal control of root georeaction: some light effects". In: Skoog F (ed.) Plant Growth Substances 1979, pp. 450–461. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. | |
| Scheres B, McKhann H, van den Berg C et al. (1996) Experimental and genetic analysis of root development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant and Soil 187: 97–105. | |
| book Stover EL (1951) An Introduction to the Anatomy of Seed Plants. Boston, MA: DC Heath and Co. | |
| Tsugeki R and Federoff NV (1999) Genetic ablation of root cap cells in Arabidopsis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 96: 12941–12946. | |
| Further Reading | |
| Aeschbacher RA, Schiefelbein JW and Benfey PN (1994) The genetic and molecular basis of root development. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 45: 25–45. | |
| Barlow PW (1994) Rhythm, periodicity and polarity as bases for morphogenesis in plants. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 69: 475–525. | |
| book Clowes FAL (1961) Apical Meristems. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. | |
| Hawes MC and Brigham LA (1992) Impact of root border cells on microbial populations in the rhizosphere. Advances in Plant Pathology 8: 119–148. | |
| Schiefelbein JW, Masucci JD and Wang H (1997) Building a root: the control of patterning and morphogenesis during root development. Plant Cell 9: 1089–1098. | |
