Project Title:
Sticky Roots Change Rhizodeposition Quality and Quantity Leading to Variable Disruption of Mineral-Organic Associations
Program Year:
2021
Major:
Microbiology
Supervisor:
Marco Keiluweit
This project focused on the importance of mineral organic matter stability in the rhizosphere. Mineral organic associations make up for 90% of total stored carbon in deep soil making this the most important mechanism for long term storage. However, mineral organic matter can be disrupted via root processes such as rhizodeposition. In this project we used sticky roots via infected plants to measure the variability of disruption in mineral organic associations. We hope to use what we gain from these experiments to better predict the relationship between root processes and the release of carbon into the soil via mineral disruption.
