Funding awarded to uncover the mechanism behind the water hunting power of plant roots

By using microCT imaging, our scientists have recently observed that the distribution of water in soil profoundly influences root branching. Plants achieve this via a novel mechanism termed ‘hydropatterning’, where lateral roots form on the side of the main root in contact with water, but rarely on the dry side.  Prof. Malcolm Bennett and his team have been given funding from BBSRC to investigate the molecular mechanisms behind hydropatterning.