Analysis of root-environment interactions reveals mechanical advantages of growth-driven penetration of roots.

Autor: Koren Y; School of Mechanical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.; Center for Physics and Chemistry of Living Systems, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel., Perilli A; Center for Physics and Chemistry of Living Systems, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.; School of Plant Science and Food Security, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel., Tchaicheeyan O; School of Mechanical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.; Center for Physics and Chemistry of Living Systems, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel., Lesman A; School of Mechanical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.; Center for Physics and Chemistry of Living Systems, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel., Meroz Y; Center for Physics and Chemistry of Living Systems, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.; School of Plant Science and Food Security, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Plant, cell & environment [Plant Cell Environ] 2024 Dec; Vol. 47 (12), pp. 5076-5088. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 14.
DOI: 10.1111/pce.15089
Abstrakt: Plant roots are considered highly efficient soil explorers. As opposed to the push-driven penetration strategy commonly used by many digging organisms, roots penetrate by growing, adding new cells at the tip, and elongating over a well-defined growth zone. However, a comprehensive understanding of the mechanical aspects associated with root penetration is currently lacking. We perform penetration experiments following Arabidopsis thaliana roots growing into an agar gel environment, and a needle of similar dimensions pushed into the same agar. We measure and compare the environmental deformations in both cases by following the displacement of fluorescent beads embedded within the gel, combining confocal microscopy and Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) analysis. We find that deformations are generally smaller for growing roots. To better understand the mechanical differences between the two penetration strategies, we develop a computational model informed by experiments. Simulations show that, compared to push-driven penetration, grow-driven penetration reduces frictional forces and mechanical work, with lower propagation of displacements in the surrounding medium. These findings shed light on the complex interaction of plant roots with their environment, providing a quantitative understanding based on a comparative approach.
(© 2024 The Author(s). Plant, Cell & Environment published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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