Thank you @dvonwangenheim.bsky.social @the.3i.social for this awesome demo of your spinning disc system for #rootimaging

During secondary growth, primary protective barriers break, and a new one forms beneath: the phellem.

But what triggers phellem to differentiate and become a functional barrier? Our results show it’s mechanical cues from tissue rupture 🌱
Check out our preprint 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵/1

The 7th International Symposium on Plant Apoplastic Diffusion Barriers (PADiBa2026) will be held in Lausanne, Switzerland from August 31th to September 3rd 2026. We now have a website: wp.unil.ch/padiba2026/ Registrations will open on April 1st.

#apoplast pH imaging protocol

#roots mechanobiology 👌

#root anatomy. Mechanism of phellem differentiation. Mechanobiology. Learnt new tissue type/cell states 👌

Level 1: the algorithm includes improved scoring functions for the design of efficient sgRNAs. Level 2: design and construction of multiplexed CRISPR libraries. Level 3: trait-oriented CRISPR libraries—nutrient uptake sub-libraries as a proof of concept. Level 4: tissue-specific CRISPR vectors for spatial genetics screens. Level 5: CRISPR-GuideMap: plant barcoded screens of ∼1,000 plants, allowing large-scale reverse genetics multi-knockouts. Outcome: a next-generation tool for plant genetics.

New manuscript out in Cell Reports!

Shani lab has develope a multiplexed, tissue-specific CRISPR toolbox for Arabidopsis that overcomes gene family redundancy & enables large-scale,cell-type-resolved genetic screens

📃 www.cell.com/cell-reports...

@eilonshani.bsky.social
@cellpress.bsky.social

#segmentation

Very excited that our review on carbon allocation to axial sink organs is published. Super writing experience and discussions with Anil and @bjazminrh.bsky.social, thank you both for your great work and ideas!

Happy to see this work out there 😊

FocalPlane features… quantitative plant imaging across scales Thursday 30 April, 15:00 BST (UTC+1) Organised by Alex Johnson and Joe McKenna Image of Beatrice Lace (University of Freiburg) Multiplexing and Endogenous Fluorescence Discrimination Using FLIM in Plants Image of Simon Gilroy (University of Wisconsin–Madison) Do plants feel pain? How imaging has brought plant wound signaling into the human timescale. #FocalPlaneFeatures focalplane.biologists.com Image of a segmented root

We are excited to launch a new webinar series, Macro to micro: quantitative plant imaging across scales, organised by @ajcellbio.bsky.social and @joemckenna.bsky.social. Our first webinar will featured talks from @blace.bsky.social and Simon Gilroy.

focalplane.biologists.com/2026/03/30/n...

Gwen is going with a group from Hutton to UAE next week to make connections with research organisations in the Emirates.
@hutton.ac.uk
@gwenkirschner.bsky.social

'Between the Roots' ISRR Mini Symposium 2026 YouTube video by ISRR-International Society of Root Research

We hosted the ISRR Mini Symposium last week with 14 talks on roots from a whole range of research fields. If you want to catch up on this the link to the recording is here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQqD...

@rootscientists.bsky.social

Functional analysis of barley HvRTH3 reveals its role in root hair patterning with no detectable impact on drought response Root hairs, tubular extensions of the rhizodermal cells, facilitate nutrient uptake, yet their role in water acquisition remains debated and may be sp…

Functional analysis of barley HvRTH3 reveals its role in root hair patterning with no detectable impact on drought response
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Stay tuned… the Austrian Society of Plant Biology 
will host the next
Federation of European Societies of Plant Biology
conference
in Vienna, 17-20 August 2027
save the date and we will soon upload new details #fespb #plantscience #societiesofplantbiology

Quantitative imaging of apoplastic pH in plant roots via confocal microscopy Nature Protocols - This protocol details the quantitative imaging of apoplastic pH in Arabidopsis thaliana roots using confocal microscopy combined with the fluorescent pH probe...

Two papers on apoplastic pH visualisation coming out together – a nice double pack from @aroessling.bsky.social and @elkebarbez.bsky.social

-> www.nature.com/articles/s41...
-> link.springer.com/article/10.1...

@dompsfr.bsky.social @biologyunifreiburg.bsky.social @cibss.bsky.social

Want to image apoplastic pH in plants? 🔬

Two new papers from our team offer a full workflow plus open access analysis tools.
Congrats to @aroessling.bsky.social, Niklas Mayle and @lguerard.bsky.social

Nature Protocols: rdcu.be/e7R2E
BMC Methods: lnkd.in/dctpWJ3X

Happy Imaging!

Looking forward to show new results from @barleymicrobreed.bsky.social @bokuvienna.bsky.social -can we translate root gravitropic dynamics to predict field foraging patterns? #roots #barley #rootarchitecture #rootphenotyping #gravitropism @marketapernis.bsky.social thx for the invitation @ceitec.eu

www.rootresearch.org/working-groups the #ISRR organized a minisymposium to introduce all 7 working groups that address different aspects of #rootsscience #roots #plantscience International Society of Root Research @rootscientists.bsky.social

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the ISRR Mini Symposium next week — a day of online presentations focused on roots 🌱
#ISRR
@rootscientists.bsky.social
@hutton.ac.uk

Register here 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/internatio...

📢 Online event: International Society of Root Research - Mini Symposium — Wed 28 Jan 2026, 10:00–17:00 UK (12:00–18:30 UTC). Talks + discussion for anyone into root research & related topics.
@rootscientists.bsky.social @rootarchitecture.bsky.social #roots #RootResearch #PlantScience #Rhizosphere

This Special Issue reveals that root responses depend on where the root is, when it develops and the evolutionary history behind it. Recognizing this context-dependence moves us beyond simple models and toward more realistic predictions of plant resilience.

🌱⚡🔬#RootStressWeek

The hidden half in the spotlight: the diverse strategies of root systems under stress by Hannah Schneider & Doris Vetterlein in @annbot.bsky.social

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/qjfr

#RootBiology #PlantStress #RootPhysiology #PlantScience

Warm temperatures trigger a surge in auxin signalling that speeds up both cell division and elongation, allowing young roots to grow longer. This discovery shows that roots can sense and respond to heat on their own, revealing a key below-ground adaptation that many crops may share.

🌱⚡🔬#RootStressWeek

Hormonal regulation of root growth under moderately elevated temperatures by Tilman Jacob et al. in @annbot.bsky.social

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/ps8z

#RootBiology #PlantStress #RootPhysiology #PlantScience

As phosphorus becomes scarce, maize reorganizes its root system in ways that limit water uptake. This P-driven shift reduces root conductance and growth, showing that how roots are structured (not just how big they are) determines a plant’s ability to access water under stress.

🌱⚡🔬#RootStressWeek

Root system architecture reorganization under decreasing soil phosphorus lowers root system conductance of Zea mays by Felix Maximilian Bauer et al. in @annbot.bsky.social

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/qjpb

#RootBiology #RootPhysiology #PlantScience

Root “stop signals” that slow growth in hard soil were once an advantage, helping ancestral maize avoid dry topsoil and reach deeper water, but this benefit faded as agriculture introduced tillage and irrigation. The study shows that root plasticity is context-dependent, with traits once adaptive becoming less useful in modern, managed soils.

🌱⚡🔬#RootStressWeek

Did crop domestication change the fitness landscape of root response to soil mechanical impedance? An in silico analysis by Harini Rangarajan and Jonathan Lynch in @annbot

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/qjpm

#RootBiology #PlantStress #RootPhysiology #PlantScience

Drought doesn’t act on plants, soil, or microbes alone. It reshapes the entire plant–soil–microbiome system. Maize with fewer root hairs showed milder drought responses, while wild-type plants increased exudation and triggered stronger microbial shifts, highlighting how root–soil interface traits shape stress propagation and ecosystem responses under water limitation.

🌱⚡🔬#RootStressWeek

Drought response of the maize plant–soil–microbiome system is influenced by plant size and presence of root hairs by Roman Hartwig et al. in @annbot.bsky.social

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/qjpn

#RootBiology #PlantStress #RootPhysiology #PlantScience

Water uptake in drying soils depends far more on soil texture and soil–root contact than on root hairs. By mapping where roots actually take up water and what limits that flow, this 3D model shows that rhizosphere and soil–root interactions (not just root traits) govern how maize responds to drought across different soil types.

🌱⚡🔬#RootStressWeek

On the importance of rhizosphere conductance and soil–root contact in drying soils by Axelle Koch et al. in @annbot.bsky.social

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/qjtk

#RootBiology #PlantStress #RootPhysiology #PlantScience

Year-to-year shifts between dry and moist conditions strongly reshape maize root gene expression and rhizosphere microbes, showing that precipitation history (not just plant traits) drives plant–microbe interactions and matters for drought resilience.

🌱⚡🔬#RootStressWeek

Responses of maize roots, rhizosphere enzyme kinetics and prokaryote diversity to alternating precipitation: insights from a three-year field study by Henrike Würsig et al. in @annbot.bsky.social

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/qjtn

#PlantScience

Deep-rooted wheat genotypes consistently accessed more deep water and nitrogen and suffered less water stress, even in dry years—showing that deep rooting is a valuable, selectable trait that can be effectively phenotyped and integrated into breeding programmes.

🌱⚡🔬#RootStressWeek

Winter wheat phenotyping for deep root growth and function, reduced water stress and increased uptake of deep N and water by Arnesta Odone et al. in @annbot.bsky.social

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/qjtp

#RootBiology #RootPhysiology #PlantScience