OPENAIRE OpenAire Sygma Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE) e-Prints Soton Crossref Europe PubMed Central PubMed Central European Union Open Data Portal https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/484590/2/s11104_022_05530_1.pdf https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11104-022-05530-1.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05530-1 Plant and Soil Open Access 2022-06-11 Abstract Aims <p>Recent laboratory studies revealed that root hairs may alter soil physical behaviour, influencing soil porosity and water retention on the small scale. However, the results are not consistent, and it is not known if structural changes at the small-scale have impacts at larger scales. Therefore, we evaluated the potential effects of root hairs on soil hydro-mechanical properties in the field using rhizosphere-scale physical measurements.</p> Methods <p>Changes in soil water retention properties as well as mechanical and hydraulic characteristics were monitored in both silt loam and sandy loam soils. Measurements were taken from plant establishment to harvesting in field trials, comparing three barley genotypes representing distinct phenotypic categories in relation to root hair length. Soil hardness and elasticity were measured using a 3-mm-diameter spherical indenter, while water sorptivity and repellency were measured using a miniaturized infiltrometer with a 0.4-mm tip radius.</p> Results <p>Over the growing season, plants induced changes in the soil water retention properties, with the plant available water increasing by 21%. Both soil hardness (P￢ﾀﾉ=￢ﾀﾉ0.031) and elasticity (P￢ﾀﾉ=￢ﾀﾉ0.048) decreased significantly in the presence of root hairs in silt loam soil, by 50% and 36%, respectively. Root hairs also led to significantly smaller water repellency (P￢ﾀﾉ=￢ﾀﾉ0.007) in sandy loam soil vegetated with the hairy genotype (-49%) compared to the hairless mutant.</p> Conclusions <p>Breeding of cash crops for improved soil conditions could be achieved by selecting root phenotypes that ameliorate soil physical properties and therefore contribute to increased soil health.</p> /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1100/1111 0106 biological sciences Supplementary Data QH301 Biology /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1100/1110 Soil Science Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services (RESAS) Plant Science 01 natural sciences 630 QH301 BBSRC BB/L025825/1 Barley Soil health Soil structure Root hairs Soil hydromechanical properties BB/L025620/1 580 2. Zero hunger name=Soil Science ERCDMR-646809 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences 15. Life on land Soil water retention BBSRC BB/J00868/1 6. Clean water Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries Other name=Plant Science Research Article M. Marin, P. D. Hallett, D. S. Feeney, L. K. Brown, M. Naveed, N. Koebernick, S. Ruiz, A. G. Bengough, T. Roose, T. S. George, 2022-06-11 journalpaper Abstract Aims <p>Recent laboratory studies revealed that root hairs may alter soil physical behaviour, influencing soil porosity and water retention on the small scale. However, the results are not consistent, and it is not known if structural changes at the small-scale have impacts at larger scales. Therefore, we evaluated the potential effects of root hairs on soil hydro-mechanical properties in the field using rhizosphere-scale physical measurements.</p> Methods <p>Changes in soil water retention properties as well as mechanical and hydraulic characteristics were monitored in both silt loam and sandy loam soils. Measurements were taken from plant establishment to harvesting in field trials, comparing three barley genotypes representing distinct phenotypic categories in relation to root hair length. Soil hardness and elasticity were measured using a 3-mm-diameter spherical indenter, while water sorptivity and repellency were measured using a miniaturized infiltrometer with a 0.4-mm tip radius.</p> Results <p>Over the growing season, plants induced changes in the soil water retention properties, with the plant available water increasing by 21%. Both soil hardness (P￢ﾀﾉ=￢ﾀﾉ0.031) and elasticity (P￢ﾀﾉ=￢ﾀﾉ0.048) decreased significantly in the presence of root hairs in silt loam soil, by 50% and 36%, respectively. Root hairs also led to significantly smaller water repellency (P￢ﾀﾉ=￢ﾀﾉ0.007) in sandy loam soil vegetated with the hairy genotype (-49%) compared to the hairless mutant.</p> Conclusions <p>Breeding of cash crops for improved soil conditions could be achieved by selecting root phenotypes that ameliorate soil physical properties and therefore contribute to increased soil health.</p> Impact of root hairs on microscale soil physical properties in the field 10.1007/s11104-022-05530-1 646809