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Effect of soil drying on mucilage exudation and its water repellency: a new method to collect mucilage
Author(s) -
Ahmed Mutez A.,
Holz Maire,
Woche Susanne K.,
Bachmann Jörg,
Carminati Andrea
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.201500177
Subject(s) - mucilage , soil water , transpiration , water content , chemistry , botany , wetting , agronomy , environmental science , soil science , biology , chemical engineering , geotechnical engineering , geology , engineering , photosynthesis
Despite the importance of mucilage for soil–plant relations, little is known about the effect of soil drying on mucilage exudation. We introduce a method to collect mucilage from maize growing in wet and dry soils. Mucilage was collected from brace roots. The amount of mucilage exuded did not change with soil water content and transpiration rate. Mucilage exuded in dry soils had a higher degree of hydrophobicity, suggesting that the wetting properties of mucilage change in response to soil drying.