Beyond Digging: Noninvasive Root and Rhizosphere Phenotyping

Update on Root Exudation and Rhizosphere Biology Root Exudation and Rhizosphere Biology

Our understanding of the biology, biochemistry, and genetic development of roots has considerably improved during the last decade (Smith and Fedoroff, 1995; Flores et al., 1999; Benfey and Scheres, 2000). In contrast, the processes mediated by roots in the rhizosphere such as the secretion of root border cells and root exudates are not yet well understood (Hawes et al., 2000). In addition to th...

The rhizosphere revisited: root microbiomics

The rhizosphere was defined over 100 years ago as the zone around the root where microorganisms and processes important for plant growth and health are located. Recent studies show that the diversity of microorganisms associated with the root system is enormous. This rhizosphere microbiome extends the functional repertoire of the plant beyond imagination. The rhizosphere microbiome of Arabidops...

Beyond BMI - Phenotyping the Obesities

For more than a decade, researchers in the field of obesity have debated the value of the BMI as the most common and convenient index for classifying the obese condition. The implications of using BMI are profound. The cut-off points of BMI of <18.5 kg/m 2 , 18.5–24.9 kg/m 2 , 25.0–29.9 kg/m 2 , 30.0–34.9 kg/m 2 , 35.0–39.9 kg/m 2 and 40.0+ kg/m 2 define categories usually referred to as underw...

Xi. Biochemistry of the Plant Root Rhizosphere

Samoan root phonotactics: Digging deeper into the data

This article gives a detailed quantitative account of Samoan root phonotactics. In particular, count data is given in eleven tables of segment frequencies (i.e., consonants, short and long vowels, diphthongs) and frequencies of combinations of segments (i.e., syllable types, consonant-vowel combinations, V-V and C-C combinations across syllables). Systematic patterns of overand under-representa...