Where and how do plant roots take up water?

Root water uptake is a dynamic process that involves complex interactions among atmosphere, plants and soil. Despite its importance in plant and soil sciences, there is little knowledge on the location and way water flows along plant roots. To answer this question, a group of researchers have measured in situ the local flow of water into roots of lupin plants. By using neutron radiography at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), they could trace the transport of deuterated water (D2O) in the roots of the plants, which were grown in aluminium containers filled with sandy soil. The transport of water into the roots was then quantified using a convection–diffusion model of D2O transport into roots.

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