Plant roots redesign the rhizosphere to alter the three-dimensional physical architecture and water dynamics.

New Phytol

School of Life and Environmental Sciences, ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub - Legumes for Sustainable Agriculture, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.

Published: July 2018

AI Article Synopsis

  • The study investigates how drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive chickpea varieties develop rhizosheaths, which are crucial for nutrient and water uptake from soil.
  • The research uses X-ray microtomography to analyze pore volume and examines factors like root hairs and mucilage in relation to water absorption.
  • Findings indicate that drought-tolerant plants have larger roots and more porous rhizosheaths, enhancing water conductivity, and the study suggests that breeding for specific rhizosheath traits may improve crop resilience in changing climates.

Article Abstract

The mechanisms controlling the genesis of rhizosheaths are not well understood, despite their importance in controlling the flux of nutrients and water from soil to root. Here, we examine the development of rhizosheaths from drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive chickpea varieties; focusing on the three-dimensional characterization of the pore volume (> 16 μm voxel spatial resolution) obtained from X-ray microtomography, along with the characterization of mucilage and root hairs, and water sorption. We observe that drought-tolerant plants generate a larger diameter root, and a greater and more porous mass of rhizosheath, which also has a significantly increased water sorptivity, as compared with bulk soil. Using lattice Boltzmann simulations of soil permeability, we find that the root activity of both cultivars creates an anisotropic structure in the rhizosphere, in that its ability to conduct water in the radial direction is significantly higher than in the axial direction, especially in the drought-tolerant cultivar. We suggest that significant differences in rhizosheath architectures are sourced not only by changes in structure of the volumes, but also from root mucilage, and further suggest that breeding for rhizosheath architectures and function may be a potential future avenue for better designing crops in a changing environment.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nph.15213DOI Listing

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