Building soil sustainability from root-soil interface traits

Great potential exists to harness plant traits at the root-soil interface, mainly rhizodeposition and root hairs, to 'build' soils with better structure that can trap more carbon and resources, resist climate stresses, and promote a healthy microbiome. These traits appear to have been preserved in modern crop varie-ties, but scope exists to improve them further because they vary considerably between genotypes and respond to environmental conditions. From emerging evidence, rhizodeposition can act as a disperser, aggregator, and/or hydrogel in soil, and root hairs expand rhizosheath size. Future research should explore impacts of selecting these traits on plants and soils concurrently, expanding from model plants to commercial genotypes, and observing whether impacts currently limited to glasshouse studies occur in the field.

Automated summary

There is great potential to utilize plant traits at the root-soil interface, such as rhizodeposition and root hairs, to improve soil structure, enhance carbon storage and resource utilization, enhance resistance to climate stresses, and promote a healthy microbiome. These traits are present in modern crop varieties, but there is room for further improvement as they vary significantly across genotypes and respond to environmental conditions. Future research should focus on studying the impacts of selecting these traits on both plants and soils, from model plants to commercial genotypes, and determining if the effects observed in greenhouse studies can be replicated in the field.