Gene

Catalysis

Engineering

Biology

Geotechnical engineering

Materials science

Biochemistry

Botany

Plant hormone

Geology

Soil water

Mechanical engineering

Thermodynamics

Soil structure

Physics

Arabidopsis

Diffusion

Plant root

Mutant

Agronomy

Soil compaction

Environmental science

Soil science

Composite material

Compaction

Plant growth

Ethylene

Chemistry

Limiting

Plant roots

Arabidopsis thaliana

Science

Ethylene aplenty signals soil compaction It's tough to drive a spade through compacted soil, and plant roots seem to have the same problem when growing in compacted ground. Pandey et al. found that the problem is not, however, one of physical resistance but rather inhibition of growth through a signaling pathway. The volatile plant hormone ethylene will diffuse through aerated soil, but compacted soil reduces such diffusion, increasing the concentration of ethylene near root tissues. The cellular signaling cascades triggered by too much ethylene stop root growth. Therefore, gaseous diffusion serves as a readout of soil compaction for plant roots growing in search of productive nutrition. Science , this issue p. 276

Plant roots sense soil compaction through restricted ethylene diffusion