The emergent rhizosphere: imaging the development of the porous architecture at the root-soil interface
The rhizosphere is the zone of soil infuenced by a plant root and is critical for plant health and nutrient acquisition. All below ground resources must pass through this dynamic zone prior to their capture by plant roots. However, researching the undisturbed rhizosphere has proved very challenging....
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Publishing Group
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47415/ |
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| author | Helliwell, J.R. Sturrock, Craig J. Mairhofer, Stefan Craigon, Jim Ashton, R.W. Miller, A.J. Whalley, W.R. Mooney, Sacha J. |
| author_facet | Helliwell, J.R. Sturrock, Craig J. Mairhofer, Stefan Craigon, Jim Ashton, R.W. Miller, A.J. Whalley, W.R. Mooney, Sacha J. |
| author_sort | Helliwell, J.R. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The rhizosphere is the zone of soil infuenced by a plant root and is critical for plant health and nutrient acquisition. All below ground resources must pass through this dynamic zone prior to their capture by plant roots. However, researching the undisturbed rhizosphere has proved very challenging. Here we compare the temporal changes to the intact rhizosphere pore structure during the emergence of a developing root system in diferent soils. High resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) was used to quantify the impact of root development on soil structural change, at scales relevant to individual micro-pores and aggregates (µm). A comparison of micro-scale structural evolution in homogenously packed soils highlighted the impacts of a penetrating root system in changing the surrounding porous architecture and morphology. Results indicate the structural zone of infuence of a root can be more localised than previously reported (µm scale rather than mm scale). With time, growing roots signifcantly alter the soil physical environment in their immediate vicinity through reducing root-soil contact and crucially increasing porosity at the root-soil interface and not the converse as has often been postulated. This ‘rhizosphere pore structure’ and its impact on associated dynamics are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:05:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-47415 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:05:31Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-474152020-05-04T19:15:41Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47415/ The emergent rhizosphere: imaging the development of the porous architecture at the root-soil interface Helliwell, J.R. Sturrock, Craig J. Mairhofer, Stefan Craigon, Jim Ashton, R.W. Miller, A.J. Whalley, W.R. Mooney, Sacha J. The rhizosphere is the zone of soil infuenced by a plant root and is critical for plant health and nutrient acquisition. All below ground resources must pass through this dynamic zone prior to their capture by plant roots. However, researching the undisturbed rhizosphere has proved very challenging. Here we compare the temporal changes to the intact rhizosphere pore structure during the emergence of a developing root system in diferent soils. High resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) was used to quantify the impact of root development on soil structural change, at scales relevant to individual micro-pores and aggregates (µm). A comparison of micro-scale structural evolution in homogenously packed soils highlighted the impacts of a penetrating root system in changing the surrounding porous architecture and morphology. Results indicate the structural zone of infuence of a root can be more localised than previously reported (µm scale rather than mm scale). With time, growing roots signifcantly alter the soil physical environment in their immediate vicinity through reducing root-soil contact and crucially increasing porosity at the root-soil interface and not the converse as has often been postulated. This ‘rhizosphere pore structure’ and its impact on associated dynamics are discussed. Nature Publishing Group 2017-11-01 Article PeerReviewed Helliwell, J.R., Sturrock, Craig J., Mairhofer, Stefan, Craigon, Jim, Ashton, R.W., Miller, A.J., Whalley, W.R. and Mooney, Sacha J. (2017) The emergent rhizosphere: imaging the development of the porous architecture at the root-soil interface. Scientific Reports, 7 (14875). pp. 1-10. ISSN 2045-2322 Rhizosphere Root growth Soil structure X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14904-w doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14904-w doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14904-w |
| spellingShingle | Rhizosphere Root growth Soil structure X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) Helliwell, J.R. Sturrock, Craig J. Mairhofer, Stefan Craigon, Jim Ashton, R.W. Miller, A.J. Whalley, W.R. Mooney, Sacha J. The emergent rhizosphere: imaging the development of the porous architecture at the root-soil interface |
| title | The emergent rhizosphere: imaging the development of the
porous architecture at the root-soil interface |
| title_full | The emergent rhizosphere: imaging the development of the
porous architecture at the root-soil interface |
| title_fullStr | The emergent rhizosphere: imaging the development of the
porous architecture at the root-soil interface |
| title_full_unstemmed | The emergent rhizosphere: imaging the development of the
porous architecture at the root-soil interface |
| title_short | The emergent rhizosphere: imaging the development of the
porous architecture at the root-soil interface |
| title_sort | emergent rhizosphere: imaging the development of the
porous architecture at the root-soil interface |
| topic | Rhizosphere Root growth Soil structure X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47415/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47415/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47415/ |