Micromechanics of root development in soil

Lx Dupuy (1) , M Mimault (1) , D Patko (1) , Vincent Ladmiral (2) , B. Ameduri (2) , M P Macdonald (3) , M Ptashnyk (4)

1 The James Hutton Institute
2 ICGM - Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier - Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux de Montpellier
3 University of Dundee
4 HWU - Heriot-Watt University [Edinburgh]

Our understanding of how root develop in soil may be at the eve of significant transformations. The formidable expansion of imaging technologies enables live observations of the rhizosphere micropore architecture at unprecedented resolution. Granular matter physics provides ways to understand the microscopic fluctuations of forces in soils, and the increasing knowledge of pressure sensitive ion channels in plants may shed light on how roots perceive soil heterogeneity. This opinion paper exposes how recent scientific achievements may contribute to design a new theory for root growth in heterogeneous environments.

Mots clés: granular media; particle; plant roots; biomechanics

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Lx Dupuy, M Mimault, D Patko, Vincent Ladmiral, B. Ameduri, et al.. Micromechanics of root development in soil. Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, 2018, 51, pp.18 - 25. ⟨10.1016/j.gde.2018.03.007⟩. ⟨hal-01898743⟩