The study examines how the SnRK1 catalytic subunit KIN10 integrates carbon availability with root growth regulation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Loss of KIN10 reduces glucose‑induced inhibition of root elongation and triggers widespread transcriptional reprogramming of metabolic and hormonal pathways, notably affecting auxin and jasmonate signaling under sucrose supplementation. These findings highlight KIN10 as a central hub linking energy status to developmental and environmental cues in roots.

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.