ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Imaging the soil microbiome impact on drought stress-adaptive responses of cowpea roots

Abstract: We recently discovered that soil microbes control key aspects of the drought stress-adaptive response of cowpeas. The implication of this finding is that new microbe-based agritech innovations can be developed for application to soil as a strategy to combat drought. The mechanisms by which soil microbiomes confer robust drought resistance to cowpeas is still unknown. Preliminary data suggests that microbes primarily change the root 3D structure within the soil. Here we propose to combine two imaging techniques (using x-rays and neutrons) to visualize details of soil-root interactions governed by soil microbes. Combined with plant gene expression analysis, the imaging results will provide new insights into the mechanisms used in nature to withstand severe droughts. The results can be exploited to cushion agriculture against climate change, helping to stabilize the global food security.

Principal Investigator: Dr Stephen Chivasa
Experimenter: Mr Matthew Divers
Experimenter: Mr Peter Mavindidze [Deactivated]
Experimenter: Dr Fernando Alvarez Borges
Experimenter: Miss Andrea Kozlowski
Experimenter: Dr Oxana Magdysyuk
Experimenter: Dr Katherine Dobson
Experimenter: Dr Tatenda Goche
Local Contact: Dr Genoveva Burca
Experimenter: Dr John Hamilton

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2220075

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2220075

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
Select the data format above to find out more about it.

Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr Stephen Chivasa et al; (2023): Imaging the soil microbiome impact on drought stress-adaptive responses of cowpea roots, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2220075

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.