Enhancing the repeatability and sensitivity of low-cost PCB, pH-sensitive field-effect transistors.

Discrete, extended gate pH-sensitive field-effect transistors (dEGFETs) fabricated on printed circuit boards (PCBs) are a low-cost, simple to manufacture analytical technology that can be applied to a wide range of applications. Electrodeposited iridium oxide (IrOx) films have emerged as promising pH-sensitive layers owing to their theoretically high pH sensitivity and facile deposition, but typically exhibit low pH sensitivity or lack reproducibility. Moreover, to date, a combined IrOx and dEGFET PCB system has not yet been realised.

Wheat growth responses to soil mechanical impedance are dependent on phosphorus supply.

Increased mechanical impedance induced by soil drying or compaction causes reduction in plant growth and crop yield. However, how mechanical impedance interacts with nutrient stress has been largely unknown. Here, we investigated the effect of mechanical impedance on the growth of wheat seedlings under contrasting phosphorus (P) supply in a sand culture system which allows the mechanical impedance to be independent of water and nutrient availability.

The interaction between wheat roots and soil pores in structured field soil.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) root growth in the subsoil is usually constrained by soil strength, although roots can use macropores to elongate to deeper layers. The quantitative relationship between the elongation of wheat roots and the soil pore system, however, is still to be determined.

The effect of impedance to root growth on plant architecture in wheat.

Background And Aims: We were interested in the effect of impedance to root growth on root and shoot architecture of wheat. It is known that semi-dwarfing alleles decrease the degree of leaf stunting due to root impedance. We compared commercial wheat cultivars containing different alleles to determine whether leaf stunting caused by root impedance differed between cultivars.

How do roots elongate in a structured soil?

In this review, we examine how roots penetrate a structured soil. We first examine the relationship between soil water status and its mechanical strength, as well as the ability of the soil to supply water to the root. We identify these as critical soil factors, because it is primarily in drying soil that mechanical constraints limit root elongation.