ArticleAnnals of botany2004
Contribution of root cap mucilage and presence of an intact root cap in maize (Zea mays) to the reduction of soil mechanical impedance.
Article in Annals of botany, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed.
- Root Cap Cuticles Confer a Transient, Penetration-Optimised Phase During Early Seedling Establishment.Plant, cell & environment · 2026Article
- Article
- Method for the Dissection of Genomic Loci Associated with Chickpea Root Penetration Traits in Compact Soil.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Overexpression of the Lipid Transfer Protein GenePlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Rhizosheath Characteristics of Annual Ephemerals in Sandy and Gravelly Habitats of Northern Xinjiang Deserts.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Not so hidden anymore: Advances and challenges in understanding root growth under water deficits.The Plant cell · 2024Review
- Choreographing root architecture and rhizosphere interactions through synthetic biology.Nature communications · 2024Review
- A mechanical theory of competition between plant root growth and soil pressure reveals a potential mechanism of root penetration.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- ROOT PENETRATION INDEX 3, a major quantitative trait locus associated with root system penetrability in Arabidopsis.Journal of experimental botany · 2022Article
- Article
- Soil penetration by maize roots is negatively related to ethylene-induced thickening.Plant, cell & environment · 2022Article
- Parsimonious root systems and better root distribution can improve biomass production and yield of soybean.PloS one · 2022Article
- Root anatomical traits contribute to deeper rooting of maize under compacted field conditions.Journal of experimental botany · 2020Article
- Endomembrane architecture and dynamics during secretion of the extracellular matrix of the unicellular charophyte, Penium margaritaceum.Journal of experimental botany · 2020Article
- Soil compaction and the architectural plasticity of root systems.Journal of experimental botany · 2019Review
- Morphological responses of plant roots to mechanical stress.Annals of botany · 2018Review
- Article
- Engineering food crops to grow in harsh environments.F1000Research · 2015Review
- Article
- Immobilization of aluminum with mucilage secreted by root cap and root border cells is related to aluminum resistance in Glycine max L.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsThe impedance to root growth imposed by soil can be decreased by both mucilage secretion and the sloughing of border cells from the root cap. The aim of this study is to quantify the contribution of these two factors for maize root growth in compact soil.
methodsThese effects were evaluated by assessing growth after removing both mucilage (treatment I -- intact) and the root cap (treatment D -- decapped) from the root tip, and then by adding back 2 micro L of mucilage to both intact (treatment IM -- intact plus mucilage) and decapped (treatment DM -- decapped plus mucilage) roots. Roots were grown in either loose (0.9 Mg m(-3)) or compact (1.5 Mg m(-3)) loamy sand soils. Also examined were the effects of decapping on root penetration resistance at three soil bulk densities (1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 Mg m(-3)). KEY
resultsIn treatment I, mucilage was visible 12 h after transplanting to the compact soil. The decapping and mucilage treatments affected neither the root elongation nor the root widening rates when the plants were grown in loose soil for 12 h. Root growth pressures of seminal axes in D, DM, I and IM treatments were 0.328, 0.288, 0.272 and 0.222 MPa, respectively, when the roots were grown in compact soil (1.5 Mg m(-3) density; 1.59 MPa penetrometer resistance).
conclusionsThe contributions of mucilage and presence of the intact root cap without mucilage to the lubricating effect of root cap (percentage decrease in root penetration resistance caused by decapping) were 43 % and 58 %, respectively. The lubricating effect of the root cap was about 30 % and unaffected by the degree of soil compaction (for penetrometer resistances of 0.52, 1.20 and 1.59 MPa).
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