Kravchenko, A. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2025

HADDOCK3: A modular and versatile platform for integrative modelling of biomolecular complexes

HADDOCK is a widely used resource for integrative modelling of a variety of biomolecular complexes that is able to incorporate experimental knowledge into physics-based calculations during complex prediction, refinement, scoring and analysis. Here we introduce HADDOCK3, the new modular version of the program, in which the original, parameterisable albeit rigid pipeline has been first broken down in a catalogue of independent modules and then enriched with powerful analysis tools and third-party integrations. Thanks to this increased flexibility, HADDOCK3 can now handle multiple integrative modelling scenarios, providing a valuable, physics-based tool to enrich and complement the predictions made by machine learning algorithms in the post-AlphaFold era. We present examples of successful applications of HADDOCK3 that were not feasible with the previous versions of HADDOCK, highlighting its expanded capabilities. The HADDOCK3 software source code is freely available from the GitHub repository (https://github.com/haddocking/haddock3) and comes with an online user guide (www.bonvinlab.org/haddock3-user-manual). All example data described in this manuscript are available at https://github.com/haddocking/haddock3-paper-data.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2024

Root-pore interactions, the underestimated driver for rhizosphere structure and rhizosheath development

Physical characteristics of rhizosphere and rhizosheath, i.e. root-adhering soil, are crucial for plant performance. Yet, the drivers of the rhizospheres structural properties and their relationships with rhizosheath development remain unclear. We used X-ray computed micro-tomography (i) to explore two drivers of rhizosphere porosity: root-induced changes vs. preferential root growth into soil with certain pore characteristics and (ii) to estimate their contributions to rhizosphere macroporosity gradients and rhizosheath formation. Rhizosheath development was assessed in relation to rhizosphere macroporosity and rhizodeposition after {superscript 1}C labeling. Our results confirmed that both root-induced changes and growth preferences shape rhizosphere structure, with their relative significance depending on the inherent macropore availability. In intact soils, growth preferences were the dominant factor, while in sieved soils the root-induced changes became equally important. Rhizosheath formation was associated with roots compacting their surrounding and releasing carbon. However, no correlation was found between rhizosheath formation and the actual rhizosphere, i.e., the volume of soil adjacent to the roots. The study offers new process-level understanding of rhizosphere porosity gradients, while emphasizing caution in interpreting root growth data from sieved soil studies. Similarly, traditional destructively sampled rhizosheath may not fully capture the true characteristics of the actual rhizosphere, underscoring importance of intact-soil analyses.

biophysics↗