EAGER: Determining Interaction Parameters of Roots in Soil

PI: Philip Benfey（杜克大学）CoPI: Daniel Goldman（佐治亚理工学院）这个EAGER项目的目标是开始解决“植物根系在土壤中是如何表现的”这个问题。由于土壤的不透明性质，大多数先前的研究都涉及挖掘根，在透明材料中观察它们，或者观察它们在透明界面上生长。这个项目是一个早期阶段的努力，有可能改变进行根/土壤相互作用研究的方式。颗粒物质物理学方面的专业知识将与根生物学方面的专业知识相结合，探索这一领域。实验计划包括在圆柱形容器中种植水稻，并系统地改变土壤参数。根的响应将用x射线计算机断层扫描成像，用pi先前开发的软件重建和分析三维根结构。该项目是跨学科的（物理学和生物学），应用了新的专业知识（颗粒物质物理学）和新技术（高分辨率x射线探测）。这项工作也有重要的实际应用：贫瘠的土壤肥力和环境压力抑制了世界许多地区的作物产量，许多模型预测未来几十年非生物胁迫将会增加。因此，加强对根系对土壤组成和土壤湿度的反应的了解可能对农业非常有益，特别是在发展中国家。根的x射线CT扫描和分析所需的软件将在乔治亚理工学院的存储库网站上提供。

PI: Philip Benfey (Duke University)CoPI: Daniel Goldman (Georgia Institute of Technology) The goal of this EAGER project is to begin to address the question "How do plant roots behave in soil?" Due to the opaque nature of soil, most previous studies have involved digging up roots, observing them in transparent materials, or observing them as they grow against a transparent interface. This project is an early stage effort that has the potential to transform the way root/soil interaction studies are performed. Expertise in the physics of granular matter will be combined with expertise in root biology to explore this area. The experimental plan involves growing rice in cylindrical containers and systematically varying soil parameters. Root response will be imaged with X-ray computed tomography with 3-D root structure reconstructed and analyzed using software previously developed by the PIs. The project is interdisciplinary (physics and biology) and applies new expertise (physics of granular matter) and new technology (high-resolution X-ray detection). The work also has important practical applications: poor soil fertility and environmental stress suppress crop yields in many parts of the world, and many models predict abiotic stress will increase in coming decades. Thus, enhanced knowledge of root responses to soil composition and soil moisture could be highly beneficial to agriculture, particularly in developing countries. X-ray CT scans of roots and software necessary for analysis will be made available on repository websites at the Georgia Institute of Technology.