Plant Root Growth Responses to Mycorrhizal Fungi: In Vivo Characterization Through Time-Series Microscopy Analysis

- Understanding the interactions between plants and mycorrhizal fungi is crucial for supporting agricultural and forestry management strategies and defending the fragile stability of soil ecosystems. Digital technologies play an important role in both field and laboratory studies. We propose a customized digital microscope to capture plant root-fungi interactions and characterize the phenotypic responses of these organisms through time-series analysis. To demonstrate its usability, we investigated the effects of spore presence on the development and growth responses of Oryza sativa L. roots over time. Future applications will include the phenotypic analysis of both plants and fungal networks.