An Explicit Structural Model of Root Hair and Soil Interactions Parameterised by Synchrotron X-ray Computed Tomography

This study describe an approach to mitigate sub-optimal root hair detection via structural root hair growth modelling

Abstract

The rhizosphere is a zone of fundamental importance for understanding the dynamics of nutrient acquisition by plant roots. The canonical difficulty of experimentally investigating the rhizosphere led long ago to the adoption of mathematical models, the most sophisticated of which now incorporate explicit representations of root hairs and rhizosphere soil. Mathematical upscaling regimes, such as homogenisation, offer the possibility of incorporating into larger-scale models the important mechanistic processes occurring at the rhizosphere scale. However, we lack concrete descriptions of all the features required to fully parameterise models at the rhizosphere scale. By combining synchrotron X-ray computed tomography (SRXCT) and a novel root growth assay, we derive a three-dimensional description of rhizosphere soil structure suitable for use in multi-scale modelling frameworks. We describe an approach to mitigate sub-optimal root hair detection via structural root hair growth modelling.

This work arises from the Sustainable Crop production for International Development (SCPRID) programme.

Citation

Keyes S, Zygalakis K, Roose T (2017). An Explicit Structural Model of Root Hair and Soil Interactions Parameterised by Synchrotron X-ray Computed Tomography. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 79(12): 2785-2813

An Explicit Structural Model of Root Hair and Soil Interactions Parameterised by Synchrotron X-ray Computed Tomography

Published 13 October 2017