Physico-chemical and rheological analysis to understand the importance of root mucilage in mung bean (Vigna radiata) root-soil interactions

Physico-chemical and rheological analysis to understand the importance of root mucilage in mung bean (Vigna radiata) root-soil interactions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Physico-chemical and rheological analysis to understand the importance of root mucilage in mung bean (Vigna radiata) root-soil interactions Moumita Sasmal, Abhijit P. Deshpande, Susy Varughese This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9073775/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background and Aims The importance of mucilage in root-soil interactions and during dry-wet cycles in plant growth is well known. This study aims at understanding the role of fresh root mucilage in nitrogen fixation, drought tolerance, and root-soil interactions from physio-chemical properties, composition, wettability, and flow behaviour using novel approaches. Important legume crop, Mung bean (Vigna radiata) is used as the model species. Methods Fresh root mucilage collected from axenically grown Mung bean seedlings is studied for chemical composition, rheological behaviour, wettability and root-soil interactions. Root-soil interactions under wet and dry conditions are probed using soil blobs formed on live root tips under different conditions. Results Chemical analysis of fresh mung bean root mucilage shows that it is rich in pentose sugars which facilitates the biological nitrogen fixation by the roots. Rheological study indicates the gel-forming ability of the mucilage arising from pectic polymer networks of homogalacturonan (HG) and rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I) domains. Root-soil interactions inferred from image analysis of rootmucilage-soil blobs and supported by flow/wettability studies show strong correlation with viscoelasticity and surface tension characteristics of fresh mucilage. Conclusion Mung bean root mucilage, rich in pentose sugars gives strong evidence for the exclusive symbiotic relationship between the mung bean and the root nodule microbe, Bradyrhizobium. Mucilage is found to withstand temperature fluctuations in the soil without structural changes indicating suitability for drought tolerance. The weak gel-like behaviour along with yield stress and shear thinning characteristics supports the hydration and lubrication ability during root growth involving shear forces under dry conditions. Mung bean Root mucilage Root-soil interactions Nitrogen fixing Rheology Full Text Supplementary Files S1.jpg S2.jpg S3.jpg S4.jpg S5.jpg Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 04 May, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 27 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 16 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 16 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 09 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9073775","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":630152037,"identity":"f0ed7c45-37b5-4d3c-a3bc-94cdeb8b06b6","order_by":0,"name":"Moumita Sasmal","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Moumita","middleName":"","lastName":"Sasmal","suffix":""},{"id":630152038,"identity":"cd445460-865b-4670-bf72-95a642c74d77","order_by":1,"name":"Abhijit P. Deshpande","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abhijit","middleName":"P.","lastName":"Deshpande","suffix":""},{"id":630152039,"identity":"f67815cf-e5f2-4280-9cd9-3827f46f3f8d","order_by":2,"name":"Susy Varughese","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAArUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLCCDwYSUJYBkToYZxhISJCmhZmHgUGCsDIYkJ+R/kzapsCiTreB+eEHhoI7hLUY3Mgxk84BOszsAJuxBIPBMyK0SOSwQbUwmAG5h4l0mAVYC/s34rQw3Egwk2YAa+Eh0haDM2+MLXsMJCS3HeYplkggymHt6Q9v/PhTx292vH3jhw9/iHEYAwMLJE6YgTiBKA1AtR+IVDgKRsEoGAUjFQAAsekvl043ksIAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3092-1586","institution":"Indian Institute of Technology Madras","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Susy","middleName":"","lastName":"Varughese","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-09 13:43:00","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9073775/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9073775/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108809778,"identity":"8337f1a2-732c-4d64-bd5f-3b34cd5986f9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-08 15:55:21","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3387591,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Rootmucilageplantandsoil.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9073775/v1_covered_1b9e54c3-4bd8-422a-8cb6-f801dc6f96ea.pdf"},{"id":108593040,"identity":"09e4011f-b987-4a32-9837-1462355ac3b8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-06 10:06:12","extension":"jpg","order_by":32,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":91988,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"S1.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9073775/v1/9030868355b0746c7fff1c9e.jpg"},{"id":108593041,"identity":"748c167b-3cdd-49e5-bb81-1e9ca7c026d4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-06 10:06:12","extension":"jpg","order_by":33,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":89413,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"S2.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9073775/v1/e4c0291be061a3b94fa66e76.jpg"},{"id":108805615,"identity":"174f43de-a77e-49f9-84c7-32f55ee96eec","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-08 15:26:25","extension":"jpg","order_by":34,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":159945,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"S3.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9073775/v1/fc06f608bf6b9de357c08e59.jpg"},{"id":108806094,"identity":"8a8c1bae-2fa0-4ed2-afda-d73cf5e0d937","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-08 15:27:39","extension":"jpg","order_by":35,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":363447,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"S4.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9073775/v1/ee5e7e350eb5fc4d5d69878b.jpg"},{"id":108593043,"identity":"5e25e959-a7f5-4ab3-9a1f-c8a756971ed8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-06 10:06:12","extension":"jpg","order_by":36,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":58142,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"S5.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9073775/v1/dc8898037b3ff3b30cf820b4.jpg"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Physico-chemical and rheological analysis to understand the importance of root mucilage in mung bean (Vigna radiata) root-soil interactions","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"plant-and-soil","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"plso","sideBox":"Learn more about [Plant and Soil](https://www.springer.com/journal/11104)","snPcode":"11104","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11104/3","title":"Plant and Soil","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Mung bean, Root mucilage, Root-soil interactions, Nitrogen fixing, Rheology","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9073775/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9073775/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Background and Aims\n\nThe importance of mucilage in root-soil interactions and during dry-wet cycles in plant growth is well known. This study aims at understanding the role of fresh root mucilage in nitrogen fixation, drought tolerance, and root-soil interactions from physio-chemical properties, composition, wettability, and flow behaviour using novel approaches. Important legume crop, Mung bean (Vigna radiata) is used as the model species.\n\nMethods\n\nFresh root mucilage collected from axenically grown Mung bean seedlings is studied for chemical composition, rheological behaviour, wettability and root-soil interactions. Root-soil interactions under wet and dry conditions are probed using soil blobs formed on live root tips under different conditions.\n\nResults\n\n Chemical analysis of fresh mung bean root mucilage shows that it is rich in pentose sugars which facilitates the biological nitrogen fixation by the roots. Rheological study indicates the gel-forming ability of the mucilage arising from pectic polymer networks of homogalacturonan (HG) and rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I) domains. Root-soil interactions inferred from image analysis of rootmucilage-soil blobs and supported by flow/wettability studies show strong correlation with viscoelasticity and surface tension characteristics of fresh mucilage.\n\nConclusion\n\nMung bean root mucilage, rich in pentose sugars gives strong evidence for the exclusive symbiotic relationship between the mung bean and the root nodule microbe, Bradyrhizobium. Mucilage is found to withstand temperature fluctuations in the soil without structural changes indicating suitability for drought tolerance. The weak gel-like behaviour along with yield stress and shear thinning characteristics supports the hydration and lubrication ability during root growth involving shear forces under dry conditions.","manuscriptTitle":"Physico-chemical and rheological analysis to understand the importance of root mucilage in mung bean (Vigna radiata) root-soil interactions","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-05-06 10:06:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9073775/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2026-05-04T14:51:57+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-04-27T08:12:50+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"Plant and Soil","date":"2026-03-16T09:41:51+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-03-16T09:34:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Plant and Soil","date":"2026-03-09T08:58:49+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"plant-and-soil","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"plso","sideBox":"Learn more about [Plant and Soil](https://www.springer.com/journal/11104)","snPcode":"11104","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11104/3","title":"Plant and Soil","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"a41708a9-0cc2-4187-b416-fddd523ccea4","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 6th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2026-05-04T14:51:57+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-06T10:06:04+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-05-06 10:06:04","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9073775","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9073775","identity":"rs-9073775","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}