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Illuminating root-soil mechanics

Le Houx, J. · McKay Fletcher, D. · Leonardi, A. · Williams, K. · Walker, N. · Albarez Borges, F. · Afsar Dizaj, E. · Murthy, M. · Smith, R. · Perera, L. · Asiani, N. · James, A. · Ahmed, S. · Roose, T. · Ruiz, S.

bioRxiv · 2 Dec 2024 · 10.1101/2024.10.02.616056

Abstract

Soil compaction and escalating global drought increase soil strength and stiffness. It remains unclear which plant root biomechanical mechanisms/traits enable growth in these harsh conditions. Here, we combine synchrotron X-ray computed tomography with spatially resolved X-ray diffraction to characterize the biomechanics of a replica root-soil system. We map the strain field around the root tip, finding strong agreement with finite element simulations, thereby demonstrating a promising new in-vivo measurement protocol.

Code and data availability

The paper deposits its X-ray diffraction and X-ray imaging (XCT) measurements in the Southampton Pure repository (DOI 10.5258/SOTON/D3309.274) and its processing scripts in a companion deposit (DOI 10.5258/SOTON/D3309.276), both with explicit availability statements and public URLs.

Datasetpublic

∇uT ), F(σ′) > 0,x ∈ Ω σ′ = Cep : (∇u+∇uT ), F(σ′) = 0,x ∈ Ω u·ê1 = 0, x ∈ ΓAxis u = 0, x ∈ ΓC,Top u = [0,wstep]T , x ∈ Γbot ∪Γout n̂·∇u = 0, x ∈ Γtop ∪ΓC,tip n̂·σ = ppen, x ∈ (Γtop ∩Ω∩Ωc)∪(ΓC,tip ∩Ω∩Ωc) . (29) Data Records 273 All X-ray diffraction and X-ray imaging data used in this study can be found in the Pure repository: https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D3309.274 Code availability 275 All scripts used to process the data can be found in the Pure repository: https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D3309.276 References 277 1. Lee, H. et al. Ipcc, 2023: Climate change 2023: Synthesis report, summary for policymakers. contribution of working 278 groups i, ii and iii to the sixth assessment report of

Open resource ↗Pure repository · 10.5258/SOTON/D3309.274 · pdf-raw-page:9 lines:1-96
Codepublic

u = 0, x ∈ Γtop ∪ΓC,tip n̂·σ = ppen, x ∈ (Γtop ∩Ω∩Ωc)∪(ΓC,tip ∩Ω∩Ωc) . (29) Data Records 273 All X-ray diffraction and X-ray imaging data used in this study can be found in the Pure repository: https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D3309.274 Code availability 275 All scripts used to process the data can be found in the Pure repository: https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D3309.276 References 277 1. Lee, H. et al. Ipcc, 2023: Climate change 2023: Synthesis report, summary for policymakers. contribution of working 278 groups i, ii and iii to the sixth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change [core writing team, h. 279 lee and j. romero (eds.)]. ipcc, geneva, switzerland. (2023). 2

Open resource ↗Pure repository · 10.5258/SOTON/D3309.276 · pdf-raw-page:9 lines:1-96