Dr Bipin Pandey

Dr Bipin Pandey

Plant biologist investigating root-soil interactions, soil compaction, rhizosphere biology, and sensing mechanism for sustainable agriculture.

Research

Research Vision

The RhizoSensing laboratory aims to discover novel root adaptive responses and signalling mechanisms that improve plant access to water and nutrients in challenging soil environments.

Our research focuses on understanding how roots perceive and respond to physical and chemical constraints within natural soils. Recently, we discovered that the gaseous hormone ethylene acts as a key signal enabling roots to sense soil compaction and coordinate adaptive responses (Pandey et al., 2021, Science; Huang et al., 2022, PNAS; Zhang et al., 2026, Nature). We are also developing new tools and approaches to investigate how roots perceive heterogeneous soil environments and mechanical stress (Zhu et al., 2025, Nature).

Using multidisciplinary approaches spanning molecular biology, imaging, transcriptomics, genetics, biomechanics and plant physiology, we seek to uncover the mechanisms that govern root growth and adaptation in compacted and heterogeneous soils.

Why Soil Compaction Matters

Soil compaction is one of the major challenges facing modern agriculture.

Compacted soils can reduce crop yields by up to 25%, while the combined effects of soil compaction and drought can reduce yields by as much as 75%. Hard soils restrict root penetration, limit access to water and nutrients, and contribute to billions of pounds in agricultural losses annually.

Across Europe alone, more than 36 million hectares of agricultural land are considered vulnerable to soil compaction.

Current management approaches, including reduced tillage, controlled traffic farming (CTF), and sub-soiling, can be expensive, labour intensive, and often ineffective in deeper soil layers.

Our discovery that roots can be engineered to alter their response to ethylene signalling under compacted soil conditions provides a promising route towards developing crop varieties that are better adapted to challenging soil environments.

Research Areas

Root Responses to Soil Compaction

Understanding how roots perceive mechanical stress and initiate adaptive growth responses.

Root Hormone Signalling

Investigating the role of ethylene, jasmonic acid, auxin and other signalling pathways in regulating root architecture.

Root–Soil Interactions

Exploring how roots interact with heterogeneous soil environments and respond to physical constraints.

Single-Cell Root Biology

Using single-cell transcriptomics to identify cell-type-specific responses to soil stress.

Crop Improvement for Future Soils

Developing strategies to improve crop resilience in compacted and drought-prone agricultural systems.

Research Expertise

The laboratory has expertise in imaging and quantifying root-soil interactions from the molecular to whole-plant scale under diverse soil conditions.

Technologies and Platforms

We combine experimental, imaging and computational approaches including:

Media Highlights

Our discovery that ethylene acts as a key regulator of root responses to soil compaction has received substantial international attention.

Research from the laboratory has been featured by:

The original Science publication received extensive international media coverage and generated widespread interest in developing crops that are better adapted to compacted soils.

Teaching

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Teaching

BIOS2027

BIOS4010

BIOS3003 / BIOS4023