TY  - JOUR
AU  - van Dusschoten, Dagmar
AU  - Kochs, Johannes
AU  - Kuppe, Christian W.
AU  - Sydoruk, Viktor A.
AU  - Couvreur, Valentin
AU  - Pflugfelder, Daniel
AU  - Postma, Johannes A.
TI  - Spatially Resolved Root Water Uptake Determination Using a Precise Soil Water Sensor
JO  - Plant physiology
VL  - 184
IS  - 3
SN  - 1532-2548
CY  - Rockville, Md.
PB  - Soc.
M1  - FZJ-2020-05058
SP  - 1221 - 1235
PY  - 2020
AB  - To answer long-standing questions about how plants use and regulate water, an affordable, noninvasive way to determine localroot water uptake (RWU) is required. Here, we present a sensor, the soil water profiler (SWaP), which can determine local soilwater content (u) with a precision of 6.10 25 cm 3 $ cm 23 , an accuracy of 0.002 cm 3 $ cm 23 , a temporal resolution of 24 min, and aone-dimensional spatial resolution of 1 cm. The sensor comprises two copper sheets, integrated into a sleeve and connected to acoil, which form a resonant circuit. A vector network analyzer, inductively coupled to the resonant circuit, measures theresonance frequency, against which u was calibrated. The sensors were integrated into a positioning system, which measuresu along the depth of cylindrical tubes. When combined with modulating light (4-h period) and resultant modulating planttranspiration, the SWaP enables quantification of the component of RWU distribution that varies proportionally with total plantwater uptake, and distinguishes it from soil water redistribution via soil pores and roots. Additionally, as a young, growingmaize (Zea mays) plant progressively tapped its soil environment dry, we observed clear changes in plant-driven RWU and soilwater redistribution profiles. Our SWaP setup can measure the RWU and redistribution of sandy-soil water content withunprecedented precision. The SWaP is therefore a promising device offering new insights into soil–plant hydrology, withapplications for functional root phenotyping in nonsaline, temperature-controlled conditions, at low cost.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - 32887733
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000585840800006
DO  - DOI:10.1104/pp.20.00488
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/888602
ER  -