iRootHair: A Comprehensive Root Hair Genomics Database  

Abstract

The specialized root epidermis cells of higher plants produce long, tubular outgrowths called root hairs. Root hairs play an important role in nutrient and water uptake, and they serve as a valuable model in studies of plant cell morphogenesis. More than 1,300 articles that describe the biological processes of these unique cells have been published to date. As new fields of root hair research are emerging, the number of new papers published each year and the volumes of new relevant data are continuously increasing. Therefore, there is a general need to facilitate studies on root hair biology by collecting, presenting, and sharing the available information in a systematic, curated manner. Consequently, in this paper, we present a comprehensive database of root hair genomics, iRootHair, which is accessible as a Web-based service. The current version of the database includes information about 153 root hair-related genes that have been identified to date in dicots and monocots along with their putative orthologs in higher plants with sequenced genomes. In order to facilitate the use of the iRootHair database, it is subdivided into interrelated, searchable sections that describe genes, processes of root hair formation, root hair mutants, and available references. The database integrates bioinformatics tools with a focus on sequence identification and annotation. iRootHair is a unique resource for root hair research that integrates the large volume of data related to root hair genomics in a single, curated, and expandable database that is freely available at www.iroothair.org.

Magnesium availability regulates the development of root hairs in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh

“…Additionally, based upon iRootHair database (a comprehensive root hair genomics database) from Kwasniewski et al . (), 7 out of 138 root hair‐related genes in Arabidopsis showed significant changes (FDR ≤ 0.05) and all of them were down‐regulated by high Mg as compared with low Mg (Fig. b and Supporting Information http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pce.12362/suppinfo).…”

Complexity and specificity of the maize (Zea mays L.) root hair transcriptome

“…The iRootHair database () lists a set of 138 Arabidopsis genes involved in root hair formation (Kwasniewski et al , 2013) as of 1 June 2016. The maize homologs of these Arabidopsis genes which were identified based on amino acid sequence alignments according to the method of Li et al (2003) are available at (Kawahara et al , 2013).…”

ABA Suppresses Root Hair Growth via the OBP4 Transcriptional Regulator

“…2, G and H) made us further investigate the potential role of OBP4 in root hair growth regulation. Therefore, we compared the OBP4-repressed genes with known root hair regulatory genes listed on iroothair.org in more detail (Kwasniewski et al, 2013). Among the 138 genes listed on iroothair.…”