Seeing why biological crop products succeed or fail at the root

We are developing transparent artificial-soil microcosms that enable direct, live imaging of root-microbe interactions in realistic soil-like pore environments. The platform uses optically transparent cryolite particles with tunable textures resembling silt, loam, and sand, allowing 3D visualization of microbial motility, root arrival, colonization, persistence, competition, and plant physiological responses. In recent work, we showed that soil texture strongly regulates bacterial movement and recruitment to Arabidopsis roots: bacteria spread and accumulate near roots in loamy/sandy textures but can be physically excluded in more confining silty textures, even when chemical attraction is present.

This platform can help biologicals teams determine why microbial crop-product candidates succeed or fail: whether cells fail to reach roots, arrive but do not persist, are excluded by competitors, or trigger plant responses such as reactive oxygen species. We are seeking partners for a paid pilot or sponsored research collaboration using selected microbial strains, formulations, or simple consortia. Deliverables could include time-resolved root-colonization maps, arrival/persistence metrics, competition or exclusion measurements, ROS response maps, and concise interpretation of likely failure modes. Fluorescence strategy can be selected jointly; partners may provide tagged strains where available, or we can begin with imaging-compatible strains, dyes, reporters, or lab-assisted labeling approaches where feasible.