at Google ScholarTitle data
Gocke, Martina I. ; Scheibe, Andrea ; Vergara Sosa, Manuel ; Vetterlein, Doris ; Pausch, Johanna ; Lippold, Eva ; Lehndorff, Eva:
Rhizodeposit Carbon Gradients : Potentials and Limitations of Destructive Rhizosphere Sampling on a Millimeter‐Scale.
In: Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science.
Vol. 188
(2025)
Issue 4
.
- pp. 616-625.
ISSN 1436-8730
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.12011
Project information
| Project title: |
Project's official title Project's id Hot gradients & cold spots - Räumliche Zusammenhänge zwischen C-Ausbreitung und Nährstoffimmobilisierung in der Rhizosphäre und Konsequenzen für die Pflanzenernährung 403670844 |
|---|---|
| Project financing: |
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft |
Abstract in another language
Background
Despite the availability of modern techniques for high-resolution non-destructive rhizosphere analysis, destructive examinations yielding a certain minimum soil amount are often required to provide detailed insights into organic matter composition.
Methods
We compared an established approach for destructive rhizosphere sampling via root brushing to a new millimeter-scale gradient sampling approach, expecting that the latter allows to characterize spatial patterns of rhizodeposit-carbon (C) distribution and relate them to root traits and soil texture. A tool to sample soil in 2 mm steps around a root was developed. Maize with and without root hairs was grown under field conditions until the end of tassel emergence, either in loam or in sand, and labeled with 13CO2 one day before harvest.
Results
Both approaches showed an enrichment of C and 13C in sandy and partially in loamy rhizosphere, but no δ13C gradient could be statistically demonstrated due to high variability. The major uncertainty of both approaches was the potential masking of bulk soil organic C concentration and isotopic composition by non-target roots. The new gradient sampling approach offers uniform, pre-defined, and thus neutral conditions with respect to sampling distance independent of root and soil properties; yields at least 100–200 mg of soil on a millimeter-scale from one individual root segment; and can be applied in natural settings without root growth artifacts. The presented techniques integrated signals from fine roots and root hairs.
Conclusions
For root systems with longer unbranched segments, the new approach has potential for tracing 13C released by roots and for analyzing plant and microbial remains at the millimeter-scale.