TY - JOUR

T1 - Disentangling who is who during rhizosphere acidification in root interactions: combining fluorescence with optode techniques

AU - Faget, Marc

AU - Blossfeld, Stephan

AU - von Gillhaussen, Philipp

AU - Schurr, Ulrich

AU - Temperton, Victoria Martine

PY - 2013/10/10

Y1 - 2013/10/10

N2 - Plant-soil interactions can strongly influence root growth in plants. There is now increasing evidence that root-root interactions can also influence root growth, affecting architecture and root traits such as lateral root formation. Both when species grow alone or in interaction with others, root systems are in turn affected by as well as affect rhizosphere pH. Changes in soil pH have knock-on effects on nutrient availability. A limitation until recently has been the inability to assign species identity to different roots in soil. Combining the planar optode technique with fluorescent plants enables us to distinguish between plant species grown in natural soil and in parallel study pH dynamics in a non-invasive way at the same region of interest (ROI). We measured pH in the rhizosphere of maize and bean in rhizotrons in a climate chamber, with ROIs on roots in proximity to the roots of the other species as well as not-close to the other species. We found clear dynamic changes of pH over time and differences between the two species in rhizosphere acidification. Interestingly, when roots of the two species were interacting, the degree of acidification or alkalization compared to bulk soil was less strong then when roots were not growing in the vicinity of the other species. This cutting-edge approach can help provide a better understanding of plant-plant and plant-soil interactions.

AB - Plant-soil interactions can strongly influence root growth in plants. There is now increasing evidence that root-root interactions can also influence root growth, affecting architecture and root traits such as lateral root formation. Both when species grow alone or in interaction with others, root systems are in turn affected by as well as affect rhizosphere pH. Changes in soil pH have knock-on effects on nutrient availability. A limitation until recently has been the inability to assign species identity to different roots in soil. Combining the planar optode technique with fluorescent plants enables us to distinguish between plant species grown in natural soil and in parallel study pH dynamics in a non-invasive way at the same region of interest (ROI). We measured pH in the rhizosphere of maize and bean in rhizotrons in a climate chamber, with ROIs on roots in proximity to the roots of the other species as well as not-close to the other species. We found clear dynamic changes of pH over time and differences between the two species in rhizosphere acidification. Interestingly, when roots of the two species were interacting, the degree of acidification or alkalization compared to bulk soil was less strong then when roots were not growing in the vicinity of the other species. This cutting-edge approach can help provide a better understanding of plant-plant and plant-soil interactions.

KW - Biology

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - plant roots

KW - interaction

KW - green fluorescent protein

KW - pH planar optodes

KW - rhizotrons

KW - rhizosphere

KW - maize

KW - bean

KW - Sustainability Science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84901038349&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/d00e7ad6-ccaf-306d-90f3-f3c395155a7e/

U2 - 10.3389/fpls.2013.00392

DO - 10.3389/fpls.2013.00392

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 24137168

VL - 4

JO - Frontiers in Plant Science

JF - Frontiers in Plant Science

SN - 1664-462X

IS - OCT

M1 - 392

ER -