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Effect of soil drying on mucilage exudation and its water repellency: a new method to collect mucilage |
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| Authors: | Mutez A. Ahmed Maire Holz Susanne K. Woche Jörg Bachmann Andrea Carminati |
| Affiliation: | 1. Division of Soil Hydrology, Georg‐August University of G?ttingen, G?ttingen 37077, Germany;2. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Khartoum North, 13314, Shambat, Sudan;3. Institute of Soil Science, Leibniz University Hannover, Herrenh?user Str. 2, 30419 Hannover, Germany |
| Abstract: | 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. |
| Keywords: | root mucilage contact angle maize brace root rhizosphere soil water content |