Water stress induced by PEG decreases the maximum growth pressure of the roots of pea seedlings

Roots of plants growing in dry soil often experience large mechanical impedance because the decreased soil water content is associated with increases in soil strength. The combined effect of mechanical impedance and water stress hinders the establishment of seedlings in many soils, but little is known about the interaction between these two stresses. A method has been designed that, for the first time, measured the maximum axial force exerted by a root growing under controlled water stress. Using this technique the axial force exerted by a pea radicle was measured using a shear beam, while the seedling was suspended in an aerated solution of polyethylene glycol 20 000 at osmotic potentials between 0 and −0.45 MPa. The maximum growth force was then divided by the crosssectional area of the root to give the maximum axial growth pressure. The value of maximum axial growth pressure decreased linearly from 0.66 to 0.35 MPa as the osmotic potentials of the solution of PEG decreased from 0 to −0.45 MPa. In dry soil, therefore, the maximum strength of soil that a root can penetrate is decreased because of the decrease in maximum growth pressure. The elongation rates of unimpeded roots were similar whether the roots were subject to either a matric potential in soil or to an osmotic potential in a solution of PEG.