Hi everyone, today's science update in this post we see about how to study growing roots, because it is impossible to study root in the soil. But scientist made mission impossible to possible here we go through the article;
"With this new technique, scientists now have a way to observe soil
processes, live and in situ. This is exciting because there are so many
things to discover in soil."
A new transparent soil is helping to reveal the dark, underground
secrets of plant roots. A team of researchers from the James Hutton
Institute and the University of Abertay Dundee have developed a
see-through soil which will enable them to study roots in detail for the
first time.
Addressing global issues such as food security, disease transmission
and climate change presents researchers
with a variety of challenges,
including the study of the underground world of plant roots; called the
rhizosphere. The creation of the new see-through soil marks a milestone
in the study of the rhizosphere and will have applications in many
different areas of research.
Lionel Dupuy, a theoretical biologist in the Ecological Sciences
group at the James Hutton Institute, said: “With this new technique,
scientists now have a way to observe soil processes, live and in situ. This is exciting because there are so many things to discover in soil and we don’t know yet what they are”.
After two years of painstaking research to find a compound that
could replicate soil chemistry, Dr Dupuy and his colleagues found
success with a synthetic composite known as Nafion, often used in
power-generating fuel cells. This artificial soil is not especially
transparent on its own: it becomes translucent when saturated with a
special water-based solution. The product is a substrate which is very
similar to real soil in terms of physical and biological variables, such
as water retention, ability to hold nutrients and capability for
sustaining plant growth.
Dr Dupuy explained: “There are many different scientific disciplines
that could benefit from this research. Transparent soils could be used
to study the spread and transmission of soil borne pathogens.
“In crop genetics, transparent soils could be used to screen the
root systems of a range of genotypes. This would help breed crops with
more efficient root systems so that agriculture can rely less on
fertilisers.
“Physiologists could also use transparent soils to understand how
plants or microbes access nutrients that are heterogeneously distributed
in soil. Soil ecologists could use this system to make microcosm
experiments where observation on interactions of different species can
be observed,” he added.
According to the team behind the see-through soil, future paths of
research will focus on controlling a greater range of chemical and
physical properties, so that applications of transparent soils to the
many disciplines of soil biology
are possible. They also hope to lower the overall cost of the
technique, so that it can be used by everyone and at a larger scale.
For the Article:
Transparent Soil for Imaging the Rhizosphere.
2012. Downie, H., Holden, N., Otten, W., Spiers, A.J., Valentine, T.A.,
Dupuy, L.X. PLoS ONE 7(9): e44276. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044276)
For Additional Info:
Bernardo Rodriguez-Salcedo,
Media and External Relations Coordinator, The James Hutton Institute,
Tel: 01224 395089 (direct line) or 0844 928 5428 (switchboard) or Lorraine Wakefield, Content Manager, The James Hutton Institute, Tel: 01382 568749 (direct line) or 0844 928 5428 (switchboard).
Courtesy:http://www.hutton.ac.uk/news/see-through-soil-reveals-plant-roots
