What exciting research projects are you working on?
As a soil physicist, I dedicate my current and future research to broadening our knowledge on the mechanistic understanding of the soil-related process occurring at the soil-root interface and their relevance to improving the soil physical constraints imposed on the transport of water and nutrients between the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, particularly in water and nutrient-limited condition. I believe that understating the interactions between soil, microorganisms, plant, and the atmosphere has great potential to increase the ability of plants to better access water and nutrients from soil under limited conditions.
On what topic would you like to exchange ideas with students?
Several soil and plant traits have been considered so far as potential traits to improve plant and microorganism's access to soil resources (e.g., water and nutrients) under deficit conditions. However, it is hard to imagine that we can find universal roles or traits due to the complexity and plasticity of soils, microorganisms, and plants. I look forward to discussing mechanistically how, when and where different soil and traits may help plants cope with deficit conditions.
And how does practice benefit from your research findings?
My general objective is first to identify the key mechanisms that plants and microorganisms involve in maintaining their access to water and nutrients under limited soil conditions and then incorporate such mechanics into the ongoing agricultural activities.
Publicationen of Prof. Mohsen Zare:
- Zarebanadkouki, M., Fink, T., Benard, P. and Banfield, C.C. (2019), Mucilage Facilitates Nutrient Diffusion in the Drying Rhizosphere. Vadose Zone Journal, 18: 1-13 190021. https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2019.02.0021
- Zarebanadkouki, M., Trtik, P., Hayat, F. et al. Root water uptake and its pathways across the root: quantification at the cellular scale. Sci Rep 9, 12979 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49528-9
- Mohsen Zarebanadkouki, Eva Kroener, Anders Kaestner, Andrea Carminati, Visualization of Root Water Uptake: Quantification of Deuterated Water Transport in Roots Using Neutron Radiography and Numerical Modeling, Plant Physiology, Volume 166, Issue 2, October 2014, Pages 487–499, https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.114.243212
- Benard, P., Schepers, J. R., Crosta, M., Zarebanadkouki, M., & Carminati, A. (2021). Physics of viscous bridges in soil biological hotspots. Water Resources Research, 57, e2021WR030052. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030052
- Zarebanadkouki, M., Ahmed, M.A. & Carminati, A. Hydraulic conductivity of the root-soil interface of lupin in sandy soil after drying and rewetting. Plant Soil 398, 267–280 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2668-1
More information:
- Prof. Mohsen Zare introduces himself in a short video.
- Overview of professorships at TUM School of Life Sciences.
Editing:
Technical University Munich
TUM School of Life Sciences
Public Relations Team
presse(at)tum.de
Scientific Contact:
Prof. Dr. Mohsen Zare
Technical University Munich
TUM School of Life Sciences
Professorship for Soil Biophysics and Environmental Systems
Tel. +49 8161 71 3495
mohsen.zare@tum.de