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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Exploring the Root Microbiome: Extracting Bacterial Community Data from the Soil, Rhizosphere, and Root Endosphere
Published on: May 2, 2018
Micromechanics of root development in soil
L X Dupuy1, M Mimault1, D Patko1
1The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, DD25DA Dundee, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Our understanding of how roots develop in soil may be at the eve of significant transformations. The formidable expansion of imaging technologies enables live observations of the rhizosphere micro-pore architecture at unprecedented resolution. Granular matter physics provides ways to understand the microscopic fluctuations of forces in soils, and the increasing knowledge of plant mechanobiology may shed new lights on how roots perceive soil heterogeneity. This opinion paper exposes how recent scientific achievements may contribute to refresh our views on root growth in heterogeneous environments.
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