A microscope image of a canola root

Soil, roots, soil ‘bugs’ and their complex interactions are the focus of the annual Root/Soil Biology in Agriculture workshop beginning today at CSIRO’s Black Mountain site and ending on Saturday, 3 February.

“Researchers are increasingly looking beneath the surface to improve crop productivity,” says conference organiser Professor Margaret McCully of CSIRO Plant Industry. “Understanding the way roots, soil, soil microbes and soil fauna can interact to improve the efficiency of water and nutrient uptake by plants is critical for helping farmers develop management strategies to help cope with drought and other crop stresses.

“New microscope, molecular and other technologies are revealing that there is a lot more happening beneath the paddock than previously thought and several recent discoveries are pointing to ways that these complex interactions can be manipulated to increase crop productivity.”

”Root/Soil Biology in Agriculture features lectures and discussion sessions with scientists from around Australia and the world, as well as practical sessions for research students and post-doctoral fellows. The practical sessions are particularly popular and have been booked out for some time.

“The conference is building each year and brings together researchers, farm advisers, farmers and young scientists interested in the way roots, soil and the things that live amongst them interact in agricultural systems,” Professor McCully says. “It’s a unique opportunity to bring together people who have quite different expertise but are all focused on developing more efficient and sustainable ways to grow crops.”

Visiting overseas researchers this year include: Leslie Weston, Cornell University, USA, who will give a seminar on bioactive root exudates; Dietz Bauer, from the University of California, Davis, USA, who will discuss the interplay between plants and bacteria; André Läuchli, University of California, Davis, USA, who will give a talk on salt exclusion by wheat roots; and, Ming Huang, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, who will focus on soil mineral/organic matter/microorganism interactions.

Prof Bauer and Prof Weston will be taking two of the practical hands-on sessions, giving students useful skills in collecting and studying the chemical compounds that roots produce. A feature of the practical workshops for students is learning cutting edge microscopy techniques at the CSIRO Microscopy Centre. Students will learn how to use standard fluorescence, confocal and cryo-analytical scanning electron microscopes for observing the root/soil interface, the organisms that live there and the structure of roots.

All who are interested are welcome to attend the lectures and discussions. The practical sessions are intended for students and post-doctoral fellows and have been booked out.