Soil, climate, and variety impact on quantity and quality of maize root mucilage exudation

Abstract Aims This study investigated the influence of climate and soil on exudation rate polysaccharide composition aerial nodal root mucilage from drought-resistant drought-susceptible maize varieties. Methods Two varieties were grown in two different soils (sandy-clay loam Acrisol Luvisol) under simulated climatic conditions their agroecological zones origin Kenya Germany. The roots was quantified as dry weight per tip day characterized for its composition. Results On average, 35.8% higher Kenyan semi-arid tropical than German humid temperate conditions. However, cultivation Luvisol Germany led to 73.7% sandy-clay Kenya, plausibly due microbial biomass nutrient availability. variety exuded 58.2% more variety. polysaccharides composed 40.6% galactose, 26.2% fucose, 13.1% mannose, 11% arabinose, 3.5% glucose, 3.2% xylose, 1.3% glucuronic acid, 1% an unknown uronic acid. Overall, significantly proportions acids found plants Conclusions Maize is able enhance warm high activity mitigate water stress support rhizosphere microbiome, respectively. Graphical abstract