What is it about?
Soil flooding leads to depletion of oxygen in the rhizosphere and therefore the energy metabolism switches from aerobic respiration to anaerobic fermentation. We use a new CO2 microsensor in conjunction with a traditional O2 sensor to reveal an anoxic core that expands throughout the root tissues with time of soil flooding.
Featured Image
Photo by Constant Loubier on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Our study demonstrates the gradual shift from aerobic respiration to anaerobic fermentation as we are now able to follow O2 consumption and CO2 production simultaneously. Moreover, we have also provided insight into tissue CO2 concentrations at a spatial resolution which has never before been achieved.
Perspectives
The new CO2 microsensor will enable future laboratory studies testing additional hypotheses related to temporal patterns and spatial gradients of CO2 in plant organs/tissues, and similarly to the use of O2 microsensors in field situations to resolve questions related to plant aeration, deployment of the new CO2 microsensor will enhance field studies and various other applications in plant ecophysiology
Professor Ole Pedersen
University of Copenhagen, Department of Biology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Root O
2
consumption, CO
2
production and tissue concentration profiles in chickpea, as influenced by environmental hypoxia, New Phytologist, December 2019, Wiley, DOI: 10.1111/nph.16368.
You can read the full text:
Resources
CO2 and O2 dynamics in leaves of aquatic plants with C3 or CAM photosynthesis – application of a novel CO2 microsensor
The first paper using the new CO2 paper in a biological context.
Amperometic microsensor for measurement of gaseous and dissolved CO2
The scientific paper describing the construction of the new CO2 microsensor.
Contributors
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