Rhizosphere By Design Quantitative understanding of how root exudates and hairs influence plant-soil interaction

www.hutton.ac.uk/From 1ml Syringe Barrel to Mid Pilmore Cultivation Experiment

Rhizosphere Structure Formation

Mucilage and Root Exudate

Properties

mm

1.3.

4.

5.

Computational Modelling

Muhammad Naveed

Nico KoebernickLaura Cooper

Paul HallettGlyn Bengough

Timothy GeorgeTiina RooseSam KeyesKeith Daly

Ian SinclairLawrie Brown

Annette Raffan

www.scri.ac.uk/research

2.

Rhizosphere by design: breeding to select root traits that physically manipulate soil

Phase 1: How do exudates influence the root-soil interface

Barley (optic) root exudate

0.0092

0.092

0.92 1.84 4.6 mg g-1

Chia seed exudate

0.0092

0.092

0.92 1.84 4.6 9.2 mg g-1

Phase 1: Near completionPhase 2: Glass house experiments about to start

Which root traits drive rhizosphere structure?

High resolution imaging of root:soil interactions

images courtesy Timothy George

Digital image analysis

250 um

root

Rhizosphere By Design -Imaging rhizosphere structure formation

4

Rhizosphere By Design

Future Work• Incorporate changes to physical properties caused by mucilage and

exudate• Combine soil and root models to estimate water and nutrient uptake

Parameters measured from experiments

Equations applied to computational mesh

Water release dynamics

SoilWaterAir

SoilWaterAir

SoilWaterAir

mm