The regulation of root hair-specific expansin genes

Abstract

The root hair provides a major entering spot for the symbiotic legume rhizobia. It is obvious that dynamic cell wall modification occurs in the plant root hair during the early microbe invasion. Expansins are nondestructive cell wall-modifying proteins that are involved in cell growth and differentiation. Among about 40 expansin genes in Arabidopsis, two expansin genes are expressed specifically in the root hair cell. OrtholOgous genes of this Arabidopsis root hair expansins have been found in other Brassica members, rice, and Medicago truncatula (a legume). In this review, I discuss the probable function of expansins during the early symbiotic process between the root hair and microbes and the regulation of root hair expansin genes in a comparative approach.