1. 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 Koebernick
Laura Cooper
Paul Hallett
Glyn Bengough
Timothy George
Tiina Roose
Sam Keyes
Keith Daly
Ian Sinclair
Lawrie Brown
Annette Raffan
www.scri.ac.uk/research
2.
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
0.009
2
0.092 0.92 1.84 4.6 mg g-1
Chia seed exudate
0.009
2
0.092 0.92 1.84 4.6 9.2 mg g-1
Phase 1: Near completion
Phase 2: Glass house experiments about to start
3. 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
4
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
Soil
Water
Air
Soil
Water
Air
Soil
Water
Air
mm
