Fig. 1: OsCESA6 negatively regulates rice root penetration in compacted soil.

a,b, Images (a) and primary root length (b) of 5-day-old wild-type (WT) and cesa6 mutants grown in non-compacted (1.2 g cm⁻³ bulk density (1.2BD)) and compacted (1.6 g cm⁻³ bulk density (1.6BD)) soil conditions. Images are representative of four independent CT scans. Statistical analysis was conducted using two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey test, with different letters indicating significant differences (P < 0.05). P (interaction) = 0.0032. Scale bars, 10 mm. c,d, Images (c) and primary root length (d) of 7-day-old wild-type and cesa6 mutants grown in germination pouches. The experiment was repeated three times, consistently yielding similar trends (n = 8 plants). Statistical analysis was performed using Welch’s t-test (two-sided P value is shown) with a significance threshold of 0.05, based on data from one representative trial. Scale bar, 1 cm. e, Root cross-sections of 5-day-old wild-type, cesa6 and NG-CESA6 (cesa6 complementation lines) seedlings from the elongation zones. Plants were grown in normal (0.3%) and dense (0.6%) media conditions. Sections were prepared using a vibratome at 50 µm thickness and observed under UV laser at 405 nm using an SP5 confocal microscope. Scale bars, 50 µm. f, Cortical cell diameters from wild-type, cesa6 and NG-CESA6 roots, measured from sections as described in e. Measurements were taken from 40 cells across 5 sections for each genotype. The experiment was repeated three times, consistently yielding similar trends. Statistical analysis was performed using two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey test, with different letters indicating significant differences (P < 0.05). P (interaction) < 0.0001. Based on data from one representative trial. Box plots in b,d,f show median (centre line), 25th–75th percentiles (box) and minimum to maximum range (whiskers).

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