Live imaging of root–bacteria interactions in a microfluidics setup

Authors: Hassan Massalha, Elisa Korenblum, Sergey Malitsky, Orr H. Shapiro, Asaph Aharoni - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS 2017 cited by 318

Significance Microbial interactions in the rhizosphere, the microenvironment surrounding plant roots, are a major research area for both plant biologists and microbial ecologists. A significant obstacle in this field is the difficulty in studying root–bacteria interactions in real time. Here, we developed a microfluidics-based device that allows dynamic imaging of root–bacterial interactions at previously unattainable spatiotemporal resolutions. The intimate interaction of Bacillus subtilis with plant roots is accurately traced in high resolution to the root elongation zone. We further reveal how bacterial behavior leads to rapid root colonization and exclusion of competing bacteria. Hence, this approach has the potential to transform our understanding of root–bacteria interactions and the modulation of bacterial communities colonizing the root surface.