Plant Sciences/Arabidopsis root development/Epidermis

The root epidermis is involved in nutrition and defense against pathogens. This tissue is composed of only two cell types. These cell types can be distinguished from the differentiation zone where trichoblast cells are producing root hairs and atrichoblasts are remaining non-hair cells. Root hairs are thought to be important in water and nutrient uptake. The differentiation of trichoblast involve positional information from the cortex.