Article
Plant Sciences
John V. Ramana, Jason M. Tylianakis, Hayley J. Ridgway, Ian A. Dickie
Summary: Plant root traits, such as root diameter and native/exotic status, strongly influence the composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities. Coarse-rooted plants have a lower diversity of mycorrhizal fungi and associate less with generalist fungal partners compared to fine-rooted plants. Exotic plants have a lower diversity of fungi and fewer associations with nondominant families of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi compared to native plants.
Article
Plant Sciences
Sofia I. F. Gomes, Miguel A. Fortuna, Jordi Bascompte, Vincent S. F. T. Merckx
Summary: This study investigates the interaction between mycoheterotrophic plants, which obtain carbon and nutrients from fungi, and arbuscular mycorrhizal networks. The research reveals that mycoheterotrophic plants interact with a subset of fungi detected in autotrophs, and fungi with a high overlap in autotrophic partners tend to interact with a similar set of mycoheterotrophs. The findings suggest that maintaining antagonistic interactions by targeting well-linked mutualistic fungi maximizes the carbon supply.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Ke Chen, David Kleijn, Jeroen Scheper, Thijs P. M. Fijen
Summary: The management of ecosystem services can reduce the dependence of modern agriculture on external inputs and increase the sustainability of agricultural production. In this study, it was found that AMF inoculation significantly increased raspberry yield by enhancing flower and fruit number per plant, as well as single berry weight. Additionally, the combined benefits of insect pollination and AMF inoculation resulted in a 135% higher yield than that of fertilizer-only treatments, indicating a potential additive or synergistic effect of ecosystem services on crop yield.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Maria V. Aparicio Chacon, Judith Van Dingenen, Sofie Goormachtig
Summary: Plants can be colonized by fungi with both harmful and beneficial effects. One way the fungi colonize is by secreting effector proteins that change the plant's physiology to suit the fungus. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), the oldest plant symbionts, may benefit from using effectors. Recent research has focused on understanding the function, evolution, and diversification of AMF effectors through genome analysis and transcriptomic studies. However, only a small fraction of the predicted effector proteins have been characterized, limiting our understanding of how they manipulate their host plants and which plant proteins they interact with.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jichen Wang, Jiang Wang, Ji-Zheng He, Yong-Guan Zhu, Neng-Hu Qiao, Yuan Ge
Summary: The study found that AMF inoculation improved the restoration of soil N-cycling microbial communities, which was related to its role in enhancing interactions within the N-cycling microbial loop. Furthermore, increased plant diversity strengthened the role of AMF in rescuing N-cycling microbial communities.
Article
Soil Science
Adam Frew
Summary: This study explores the impacts of insect root herbivory on the diversity of AM fungi colonising plant roots and reveals that belowground herbivory significantly alters AM fungal community structure, reducing species richness and affecting plant growth and nutrient uptake.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Iver Jakobsen, Lisa Munkvold Murmann, Soren Rosendahl
Summary: The study investigated the impact of two fungicides on the performance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and found that low doses of the fungicides enhanced root colonization by AMF, while high doses suppressed their performance. The fungicides generated biphasic response curves in irradiated soil, indicating a hormetic effect on AMF.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jenalle L. Eck, Minna-Maarit Kytoviita, Anna-Liisa Laine
Summary: This field experiment in Finland revealed that mutualistic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can both increase host plant growth and infection rates. The impact of mycorrhizal fungi on disease severity varied among host genotypes and strengthened over time during the epidemic. Host genotypes that were more susceptible to the pathogen received stronger protective effects from inoculation.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
R. Moukarzel, H. J. Ridgway, A. Guerin-Laguette, E. E. Jones
Summary: This study aimed to identify the AMF taxa colonizing grapevines in New Zealand vineyards and investigate the effect of grapevine rootstocks on AMF community diversity and composition. The results demonstrated that rootstock significantly influenced the AMF community composition in all sites, highlighting the importance of rootstock cultivar in shaping the arbuscular mycorrhizal community colonizing the roots.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Verena Sale, Javier Palenzuela, Concepcion Azcon-Aguilar, Ivan Sanchez-Castro, Gladstone Alves da Silva, Benjamin Seitz, Ewald Sieverding, Marcel G. A. van der Heijden, Fritz Oehl
Summary: This study indicates that plant benefit in the symbiosis between plants and AMF is linked to fungal identity and phylogeny, showing that there are large differences in effectiveness of different AMF.
Article
Plant Sciences
Pierre-Louis Alaux, Coralie Mison, Carolina Senes-Guerrero, Virginie Moreau, Gilles Manssens, Guy Foucart, Sylvie Cranenbrouck, Stephane Declerck
Summary: The study found that AMF diversity varied greatly among maize fields in South Belgium, with the number of species ranging from 1 to 37. There was a significant effect of management on AMF diversity, with organic management showing the highest diversity and richness values compared to conventional management or conversion.
Article
Plant Sciences
Shuo Han, Xia Wang, Yao Cheng, Guanqi Wu, Xiaoyi Dong, Xiangwei He, Guozhu Zhao
Summary: The AMF community in poplar roots showed higher diversity and species composition in autumn than in spring. The formation of the symbiotic mycorrhizal system and the AMF community were influenced by season, host age, host species, and soil environmental factors. Differences in the communities could be explained by soil pH, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, available potassium, and glomalin content. The change in the mycorrhizal symbiotic system was closely related to the growth and development of poplar trees.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Siqi Qin, Guojiao Yang, Yang Zhang, Meixia Song, Lu Sun, Yangzhe Cui, Jibin Dong, Ning Wang, Xiao Liu, Peiming Zheng, Renqing Wang
Summary: This study investigated the effects of nitrogen addition and mowing on AM fungal communities in an Inner Mongolia grassland. The results showed that nitrogen addition reduced the diversity of AM fungi in soil and altered the composition of the fungal community. Soil pH and inorganic nitrogen content were identified as the main factors driving the changes in AM fungal communities. Mowing had no significant effect on AM fungal community diversity. Environmental filtering was found to be the main driving force for the assembly of AM fungal communities.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Eva F. Leifheit, Anika Lehmann, Matthias C. Rillig
Summary: Microplastics have diverse effects on soil and plant growth, altering soil structure and microbial activity, which in turn affects the abundance and activity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The impacts of microplastics may also change how plants respond to other global change factors, highlighting the need for further research on their overall impact on ecosystems.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Liz Koziol, Thomas P. McKenna, Timothy E. Crews, James D. Bever
Summary: The restoration quality of native prairies can be enhanced by reintroducing key organisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi from the native plant microbiome. This study evaluated the long-term effects of native mycorrhizal inoculation by assessing a restored tallgrass prairie after four growing seasons. The results showed that high densities of native mycorrhizal inocula improved native plant abundance, richness, and diversity, while low densities had no significant effect. Furthermore, low densities of mycorrhizal amendment were found to reduce non-native abundance, suggesting a positive plant-fungi feedback mechanism in suppressing weeds.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Jimmy Garnier, Pierre Lafontaine
Summary: This paper investigates the impact of habitat quality and dispersal on the neutral genetic diversity of a metapopulation. By modeling the population dynamics on different habitats, the study reveals how genetic diversity is preserved at a global scale through population dispersal and adequate habitats. Furthermore, it demonstrates that sink population diversity can be rescued in a source-sink metapopulation under certain conditions of migration flow.
BULLETIN OF MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Dieter Kahl, Jose Ramon Urbez-Torres, Joel Kits, Miranda Hart, Amanda Nyirfa, D. Thomas Lowery
Summary: This study introduces an approach for identifying potential insect vectors of plant viruses that significantly reduces time-to-results, costs, and required resources. Only 9 treehoppers out of 395 tested were able to successfully transmit the virus to sucrose solutions, indicating a high likelihood of vector capability that needs to be validated through greenhouse or field experiments.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PLANT PATHOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Hongguang Liu, Miranda Hart, Zhaoyu Kong
Summary: AMF diversity differs across soil aggregate sizes at microscale due to edaphic factors, whereas the community composition remains consistent in different soil aggregate fractions.
ARCHIVES OF AGRONOMY AND SOIL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Corrina Thomsen, Laura Loverock, Vasilis Kokkoris, Taylor Holland, Patricia A. Bowen, Miranda Hart
Summary: The study found that the introduced fungal strain did not establish successfully on grapevines, even with attempts to manipulate priority effects, and inoculated vines did not perform differently from non-inoculated vines. This could be due to high phosphorus levels in the soil impacting fungal abundance.
Article
Biology
Donald L. DeAngelis, Daniel Franco, Alan Hastings, Frank M. Hilker, Suzanne Lenhart, Frithjof Lutscher, Natalia Petrovskaya, Sergei Petrovskii, Rebecca C. Tyson
Summary: As ecosystems face peril worldwide, efforts for sustainable management require scientific advice. While ecological models are not widely used in ecosystem management, successful cases demonstrate their importance, with key factors including stakeholder involvement and specific data utilization.
BULLETIN OF MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
M. Tsiknia, V Skiada, I. Ipsilantis, S. Vasileiadis, N. Kavroulakis, S. Genitsaris, K. K. Papadopoulou, M. Hart, J. Klironomos, D. G. Karpouzas, C. Ehaliotis
Summary: The assembly of root-colonizing AMF communities in the eastern Mediterranean sand dunes is mainly driven by host specificity, with geographical distance having little influence. The colonizer AMF communities are characterized by dominance of a single OTU that is host-specific among locations. Sites with small disturbances exhibit greater dissimilarity in AMF communities compared to undisturbed sites.
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
M. T. Barlow, N. D. Marshall, R. C. Tyson
Summary: Decision makers face difficult choices in managing COVID-19 policies, balancing saving lives and economic costs. The paper presents a model that considers both epidemiological and economic factors to assist in decision-making. The optimal policy involves an initial shutdown level to reduce epidemic spread, and transitioning to a vaccination program for long-term control.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Dieter Kahl, D. Thomas Lowery, Miranda Hart, Jose Ramon Urbez-Torres
Summary: Monitoring and tracking Grapevine Red Blotch Virus (GRBV) requires robust and reliable diagnostics. Different grapevine tissues were investigated for GRBV titres, with cortical scrapings in dormant samples and basal leaves in summer samples identified as the most reliable for diagnostics. Comparisons between nucleic acid extraction techniques highlighted differences in performance for quantitative analysis.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PLANT PATHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hassan Alkhayuon, Rebecca C. Tyson, Sebastian Wieczorek
Summary: By studying cyclic systems under time-varying external conditions, we have identified a new phenomenon called phase tipping, where extinction only occurs from specific phases of the cycle. Our analysis combines global dynamics with set theory and introduces the concept of partial basin instability, providing a general framework for understanding and identifying easily testable criteria for phase tipping in externally forced systems.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Kristin Aleklett, Daniel Rosa, Brian John Pickles, Miranda M. Hart
Summary: Little is known about the impact of plant life events on the composition of the plant microbiome. This study manipulated the timing of microbial exposure and the priority effects of early colonizers to investigate their effects on the root microbiota in mature plants. The results showed that the timing of soil exposure in the early life stages of a plant plays an important role in the development of the root microbiota in mature plants.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Jinxz Pollard-Flamand, Julie Boule, Miranda Hart, Jose Ramon Urbez-Torres
Summary: This study identified several Trichoderma species from grapevines in British Columbia and evaluated their biocontrol activity against BD fungi. The results showed that these isolates were able to significantly inhibit the growth of fungal pathogens and provide protection for pruning wounds for up to 21 days. They also exhibited similar or better control compared to commercial products.
Article
Ecology
Sarah K. Wyse, Maria M. Martignoni, May Anne Mata, Eric Foxall, Rebecca C. Tyson
Summary: In mathematical modelling, different functional forms can equally fit a data set, but recent work shows that similar functional responses may lead to different bifurcation points in predator-prey systems. Predicting such bifurcation behaviours, which include destabilizing oscillations, is crucial. Ecologically, different bifurcation behaviours mean different predictions and accurate predictions are important for conservation efforts. Mathematically, this difference is called structural sensitivity. We extend the work to show that the Leslie-Gower-May predator-prey system is also structurally sensitive. By adding stochasticity to the functional responses and analyzing them, we find that prey densities around the coexistence steady state play a crucial role in defining the functional response. Lastly, we propose a procedure for improving model predictions in predator-prey systems.
ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Daniel Rosa, Mehdi Sharifi, Miranda M. Hart
Summary: This study finds that some commonly used cover crop species may act as hosts for the causal agent of grapevine trunk disease, increasing the risk of infection.
Meeting Abstract
Plant Sciences
J. Pollard-Flamand, J. Boule, M. Hart, J. R. Urbez-Torres
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Nishat Tasnim, Candice Quin, Sandeep Gill, Chuanbin Dai, Miranda Hart, Deanna L. Gibson
Summary: The study found that early-life soil exposure had a minor effect on the diversity of gut microbiota in neonatal mice, but this effect increased in adulthood. Exposure to urban soil increased specific bacterial taxa and impacted the immune system, persisting into adulthood.