Journal
PLANT AND SOIL
Volume 366, Issue 1-2, Pages 683-693Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11104-012-1579-7
Keywords
Computed tomography; Hydraulic redistribution; Maize; Radiography; Root water uptake; Water transport
Categories
Funding
- Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC05-00OR22725]
- University of Tennessee - Knoxville
- Division of Scientific User Facilities, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy
- UT-Battelle, LLC [DE-AC05-00OR22725]
- U.S. Department of Energy
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Knowledge of plant water fluxes is critical for assessing mechanistic processes linked to biogeochemical cycles, yet resolving root water transport dynamics has been a particularly daunting task. Our objectives were to demonstrate the ability to non-invasively monitor individual root functionality and water fluxes within Zea mays L. (maize) and Panicum virgatum L. (switchgrass) seedlings using neutron imaging. Seedlings were propagated for 1-3 weeks in aluminum chambers containing sand. Pulses of water or deuterium oxide were then tracked through the root systems by collecting consecutive radiographs during exposure to a cold-neutron source. Water flux was manipulated by cycling on a growth lamp to alter foliar demand for water. Neutron radiography readily illuminated root structure, root growth, and relative plant and soil water content. After irrigation there was rapid root water uptake from the newly wetted soil, followed by hydraulic redistribution of water through the root system to roots terminating in dry soil. Water flux within individual roots responded differentially to foliar illumination based on supply and demand of water within the root system. Sub-millimeter scale image resolution revealed timing and magnitudes of root water uptake, redistribution within the roots, and root-shoot hydraulic linkages-relationships not well characterized by other techniques.
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