Lay abstract Hairy roots have been used for various purposes over the last several years. In the present study we used Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated hairy roots as an alternative approach for Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformation. We developed a simple, effective and reproducible hairy root protocol in tobacco and Arabidopsis. Developed hairy roots were compared with intact roots to characterize the gene response to aluminum, NaCl stress and cellular localization of genes. Aluminum-responsive orthologous genes function could be...