The physical presence of roots and the compounds they release affect the cohesion between roots and their environment. However, the plant traits that are important for these interactions are unknown and most methods that quantify the contributions of these traits are time-intensive and require specialist equipment and complex substrates. Our lab developed an inexpensive, high-throughput phenotyping assay that quantifies root-substrate adhesion in Arabidopsis thaliana. We now report that this method has high sensitivity and versatility for identifying different types of traits affecting root-substrate adhesion including root hair morphology, vesicle trafficking pathways and root exudate composition. We describe a practical protocol for conducting this assay and introduce its use in a forward genetic screen to identify novel genes affecting root-substrate interactions. This assay is a powerful tool for identifying and quantifying genetic contributions to cohesion between roots and their environment.

中文翻译：

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基于离心机的方法来鉴定影响拟南芥根-基质粘附的新遗传特征

根的物理存在及其释放的化合物会影响根与其环境之间的凝聚力。然而，对于这些相互作用而言重要的植物性状是未知的，并且量化这些性状贡献的大多数方法是费时的并且需要专门的设备和复杂的底物。我们的实验室开发了一种廉价，高通量的表型分析方法，可量化拟南芥中根基质的粘附力。我们现在报告，该方法具有很高的灵敏度和多功能性，可用于识别影响根与基质粘附的不同类型特征，包括根毛形态，囊泡运输途径和根系分泌物组成。我们描述了进行此测定的实用协议，并在正向遗传筛选中介绍其用途，以鉴定影响根-底物相互作用的新基因。该测定法是一种强大的工具，可用于识别和量化遗传对根及其环境之间凝聚力的贡献。