RDP Seminar Lionel DUPUIS

From James Hutton Institute, Dundee (UK) ; Neiker, Derio (Spain) ; IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain

Monday 3 February @ 11.00
Place de l’Ecole (host : C. Godin)
Title : Life in the soil inner space during the development of a rhizosphere
Abstract : The biological, chemical and physical interactions taking place between a developing root, microorganisms and soil particles contribute to the formation the rhizosphere, an extended region of the soil where biological activity is thriving. The rhizosphere is fundamental to acquisition of resources by the plant, but its complex structure is limiting our ability to understand how it functions.
In this talk, I will present our latest efforts to characterise how the rhizosphere is established. We have developed transparent soils and constructed light sheet microscopes for imaging at large field of view, assembled pressure chambers to mimic the deeper soil physical environment, and proposed label free detection of nematodes using laser scattering. Our systems are now able to track biological activity in the pore space with dynamic image data currently being used to propose new models of interaction at root, microbe and particle interfaces.
Soil remains a very challenging biological system. On-going work on a new generation of smart transparent soils indicates such systems could soon be used to scrutinise soil processes at unprecedented level of details, with applications in pest management and high-throughput screening of root phenotypes and fertilisers products.

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