The study investigated how plant roots promote water infiltration through dry soil layers using dye tracing in model soil microcosms. Results indicate that dissolved root exudates, possibly by altering surface tension, are the primary drivers of infiltration, with root architecture also contributing. These insights suggest that root traits influencing exudation and structure could improve drought resistance in crops.

The study examined how altering ethylene biosynthesis (ACO1) or perception (etr1.1) in a hybrid poplar (P. tremula × P. tremuloides T89) influences the assembly of root and shoot fungal and bacterial communities, using amplicon sequencing and confocal microscopy. Ethylene modulation had limited impact on the sterile plant metabolome but triggered distinct primary and secondary metabolic changes in microbe‑colonized plants, correlating with reduced fungal colonisation of shoots and increased root fungal colonisation, while arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and bacterial communities were largely unchanged.

The study evaluated how light, vapor pressure deficit, and temperature affect carbon assimilation in four Brazilian Saccharum officinarum varieties over a 530‑day field trial, using diurnal measurements and statistical modeling. Polynomial and multiple linear regression models accurately predicted photosynthetic rates, identifying optimal conditions (PAR ~1800 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹, VPD 2.34 kPa, temperature ~32.5 °C) and explaining up to 60% of the variability.