The mechanism of tuberous root formation revealed in cassava

August 5, 2020

Contributing to gaining useful basic knowledge that leads to improving productivity of tuberous roots

The Plant Genomic Network Research Team of RIKEN CSRS has revealed the molecular mechanism involved in tuberous root formation of a tropical crop, cassava.

Starch is synthesized in tuberous roots of cassava serves as food and energy source for 500 million to 1 billion people worldwide. Hence, cassava is considered as a key crop for food security and industrial uses. Understanding the molecular mechanism of the process of tuberous root formation is necessary in order to ensure sustainable food production.

The international joint research group used RIKEN’s Omics Analysis technology to undertake simultaneous analyses of plant hormones and metabolites, as well as a comprehensive gene expression profiling of cassava tuberous roots. It was found that plant hormones auxin and cytokinin play a major role in tuberous root formation. It was also revealed that tuberous root formation is inhibited by jasmonic acid and abscisic acid, as the former suppresses the effect of auxin and cytokinin, and the latter suppresses the pathway of carbohydrate metabolism, respectively.

It is anticipated that the results of this research will contribute to gaining useful basic knowledge that leads to improving productivity of cassava.

Original article

Plant Molecular Biology doi:10.1007/s11103-020-01033-8

Y. Utsumi, M. Tanaka, C. Utsumi, S. Takahashi, A. Matsui, A. Fukushima, M. Kobayashi, R. Sasaki, A. Oikawa, M. Kusano, K. Saito, M. Kojima, H. Sakakibara, P. Sojikul, J. Narangajavana, M. Seki,

"Integrative omics approaches revealed a crosstalk among phytohormones during tuberous root development in cassava".

Contact

Motoaki Seki; Team Leader

Yoshinori Utsumi; Research Scientist

Plant Genomic Network Research Team