Biophysics of the growth responses of pea roots to changes in penetration resistance

Abstract

Two experiments were performed in simplified soil-less systems to study how roots respond to changes in mechanical impedance. In the first the increases in root force and diameter that occur when a pea root was impeded mechanically inside a hole with rigid conical walls were determined. The experiment was performed at 8°C and at 25°C, and the root growth pressures generated were calculated during periods of 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours. The maximum growth pressures generated were approximately the same at both temperatures, although the maximum pressure was achieved approximately twice as quickly at 25°C than at 8°C, being reached within 15–20 hours. In the second set of experiments a new technique was developed to measure simultaneously the elongation rate and the force exerted by the roots of seedlings grown in moist air. A constant force was exerted by a force transducer on a pea radicle using a system of pulleys, and the elongation rate of the pea root was monitored using a linear variable differential transformer (LVDT). The changes in root elongation rate were recorded that occurred in response to increases and decreases in the applied force. Root elongation rate decreased by more than 50% within 30 min of increasing the applied force by 100 mN. A similarly fast, but smaller increase in growth rate occurred when the force was removed. The interpretation of results from both studies will be discussed in terms of a modified form of the Lockhart model of growth.