Article
Soil Science
Jiaohui Fang, Junyu Dong, Changchao Li, Hao Chen, Lifei Wang, Tianshu Lyu, Huan He, Jian Liu
Summary: This study found differences in microbial composition, abundance, and metabolic genes between rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere sediments, influenced by total organic carbon (TOC) concentration in root exudates and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP). The secretion of root exudates and oxygen by emergent plants was identified as the main mechanism affecting the microbial community composition and function. Rhizosphere sediments had higher abundances of genes related to biodegradation, while nonrhizosphere sediments had higher abundances of genes related to carbon fixation and sulfate reduction.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yangminghao Liu, Daniel Patko, Ilonka Engelhardt, Timothy S. George, Nicola R. Stanley-Wall, Vincent Ladmiral, Bruno Ameduri, Tim J. Daniell, Nicola Holden, Michael P. MacDonald, Lionel X. Dupuy
Summary: Our study developed a three-dimensional live microscopy technique to observe plant-microbe interactions in transparent soil, providing valuable insights into the colonization patterns of Bacillus subtilis populations in the rhizosphere of lettuce plants. This innovative system allows for real-time tracking of microbial movement and is a powerful tool for understanding complex interactions in the environment.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Review
Soil Science
Murase Jun, Asiloglu Rasit
Summary: This review focuses on the often overlooked diversity and ecology of protists in wetland rice field soils. Protists with different ecological functions, such as phagotrophs, phototrophs, saprotrophs, and parasites, adapt to a wide range of oxygen tensions and redox potential in the soil. Agricultural managements like fertilization and char application also influence the protist community. Rice roots are a hot spot for protists, as they control the rhizospheric bacterial community and can enhance nutrient release and alter bacterial activities, thereby potentially increasing plant productivity. This review highlights the essential roles of protists in wetland rice field soils and calls for further research on their diversity and functions in this unique agroecosystem.
BIOLOGY AND FERTILITY OF SOILS
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Peter J. Gregory, Timothy S. George, Eric Paterson
Summary: This opinion paper reviews recent methodological developments in the study of roots, the rhizosphere, and soil functions, and explores new understanding resulting from these advances. It highlights methods that have improved our understanding of rhizodeposition, rhizosphere enzymatic processes, and root growth, water, and nutrient acquisition. The paper suggests that new methods will be needed in the future to overcome challenges posed by soil opacity, spatial and temporal scaling of results, and integration of multiple aspects of rhizosphere processes simultaneously.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Amit Paporisch, Harel Bavli, Rachel J. Strickman, Rebecca B. Neumann, Nimrod Schwartz
Summary: Root exudates alter the physical properties of the rhizosphere, affecting solute transport in soil. Increased exudate concentrations lead to non-equilibrium solute transport, with more pronounced effects observed in coarser textured soil. Additionally, under unsaturated conditions, the presence of exudates results in altered solute breakthrough behavior.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Soil Science
Lie Xiao, Xuxu Min, Guobin Liu, Peng Li, Sha Xue
Summary: This study found that plant-plant interactions, drought stress, and sampling year significantly influenced nutrient contents and enzyme activities in the rhizosphere soil. The duration of plant-plant interactions had a significant impact on carbon flows and nutrient cycling in plant-soil systems. Drought stress increased microbial carbon and phosphorus limitation, but these limitations showed a decreasing trend in the second year.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
R. Kelman Wieder
Summary: Research indicates that there is evidence of element stoichiometric homeostasis in lichen/plant tissues in bogs globally, including the Athabasca Oil Sands Region in northern Alberta, Canada. Some species may have shifted from nitrogen limitation prior to the Industrial Revolution to phosphorus or potassium limitation today due to regionally high atmospheric nitrogen deposition.
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Joy Bergelson, Benjamin Brachi, Fabrice Roux, Fabienne Vailleau
Summary: Microbial communities are influenced by a complex system of host effects, with variation of host control within species governed by many small-effect genes. These host impacts seem targeted on particular microbial species, and there is no evidence yet that interactions differ between fungal and bacterial communities or among different compartments of the plant.
CURRENT OPINION IN BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Soil Science
Cristina P. Fernandez-Baca, Adam R. Rivers, Woojae Kim, Ryo Iwata, Anna M. McClung, Daniel P. Roberts, Vangimalla R. Reddy, Jinyoung Y. Barnaby
Summary: Rice genotype and plant developmental stage significantly influence the soil microbial community structure and methane emissions, suggesting that selecting genotypes with lower methanogen populations and higher methanotroph populations during high methane emitting phases can help reduce methane emissions.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Jingying Jing, Wei Gao, Lingyun Cheng, Xin Wang, Fengying Duan, Lixing Yuan, Zed Rengel, Fusuo Zhang, Haigang Li, James F. Cahill, Jianbo Shen
Summary: This study characterizes the responses of maize roots to nutrient-rich patches and demonstrates the synergistic effects between root morphological and physiological responses. These findings improve our understanding of root-foraging strategies and are crucial for sustainable crop production.
FIELD CROPS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Miaoping Xu, Junnan Jian, Jiayi Wang, Zhenjiao Zhang, Gaihe Yang, Xinhui Han, Chengjie Ren
Summary: The study found that in Robinia pseudoacacia plantations at different stages of forest succession, root nitrogen and phosphorus resorption efficiencies initially decrease and then increase, while rhizosphere soil nutrient contents increase with stand age. Meanwhile, the diversity of rhizosphere soil microorganisms initially increases and then declines, with different microbial communities having advantages in different nutrient-rich restoration stages.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Samantha C. Nyer, Nils Volkenborn, Robert C. Aller, Molly Graffam, Qingzhi Zhu, Roy E. Price
Summary: Constructed wetlands have been widely used for domestic wastewater treatment, but the complex biogeochemical processes occurring within them, particularly regarding plant-soil (and nitrogen) interactions, are not well understood. This study used nitrogen porewater measurements and chemical imaging to investigate the impact of plants on soil redox dynamics and nitrogen biogeochemical cycling in constructed wetlands. The findings revealed that plant roots transported oxygen to anoxic sediments through radial oxygen loss, and the extent of oxic and anoxic areas strongly correlated with the removal of ammonium and nitrogen oxides. Additionally, microscale spatio-temporal redox heterogeneity within the rhizosphere promoted nitrogen removal by stimulating the coupling between nitrification and denitrification. This study highlights the significant role of plants in controlling soil conditions and nitrogen cycling in constructed wetland systems.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Meisam Nazari, Samuel Bickel, Pascal Benard, Kyle Mason-Jones, Andrea Carminati, Michaela A. Dippold
Summary: Mucilage and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) share similar physical and chemical properties, both serving as biofilm matrices in the rhizosphere. Mucilage functions as a carbon and nutrient source, promoting high microbial abundance and activity in the rhizosphere. The importance of mucilage as a microbial habitat has been underestimated.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Editorial Material
Microbiology
Lanxiang Wang, Moxian Chen, Pui-Ying Lam, Francisco Dini-Andreote, Lei Dai, Zhong Wei
Summary: This comprehensive review discusses the multiple roles of flavonoids in mediating plant-microbe interactions, including their synthesis, transport, and exudation in plants, the importance of flavonoids in regulating plant-microbe interactions, and how flavonoids influence the overall community assembly of plant-root microbiomes. The review also highlights potential knowledge gaps in understanding how flavonoids determine the interactions between plants and commensal microbes, advocating for further research in this area for innovative strategies to manipulate plant-microbiome composition.
Review
Plant Sciences
Mohamed A. Salem, Jian You Wang, Salim Al-Babili
Summary: Plants release chemical compounds into the rhizosphere, which plays important roles in inhibiting harmful microorganisms and promoting beneficial microbes, with applications in crop yield and phytoremediation.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Maurice Evers, Hans de Kroon, Eric Visser, Hannie de Caluwe
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Cornelis A. M. Wagemaker, Liesje Mommer, Eric J. W. Visser, Alexandra Weigelt, Thomas P. van Gurp, Maarten Postuma, Annemiek E. Smit-Tiekstra, Hans de Kroon
Summary: Plant interactions belowground are important and difficult to quantify accurately. The msGBS method presented in this study allows for high taxonomic resolution and parallel quantification of multiple species in root samples. Compared to qPCR, msGBS offers similar results with advantages in revealing hidden belowground interactions.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Dina in 't Zandt, Tomas Herben, Annelien van den Brink, Eric J. W. Visser, Hans de Kroon
Summary: The interactions between plants and soil play a crucial role in plant community assembly processes, with plant species abundance often influenced by plant-soil biota interactions. The predominately negative relationship between plant-soil feedback and plant relative abundance is significantly time-dependent, potentially reconciling conflicting results in literature. More abundant plant species are stabilized by negative feedback, while less abundant species co-vary with competitive species, highlighting the importance of plant-soil feedback in regulating plant communities.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Valentini Maliaka, Miquel Lurling, Christian Fritz, Yvon J. M. Verstijnen, Elisabeth J. Faassen, Frank van Oosterhout, Alfons J. P. Smolders
Summary: The Prespa Lakes area in Greece, consisting of Great and Lesser Prespa Lakes and Vromolimni Pond, is globally important for biodiversity but faces threats from cyanotoxins. While Great Prespa showed low microcystin concentrations, Lesser Prespa and Vromolimni exhibited considerable spatial variability, with higher cyanotoxin levels near the lakeshore in 2014. This indicates a potential threat to ecosystem functions in Lesser Prespa and Vromolimni.
Article
Plant Sciences
Dina in 't Zandt, Nyncke J. Hoekstra, Hannie Caluwe, Peter M. J. M. Cruijsen, Eric J. W. Visser, Hans de Kroon
Summary: Interactions between plants and soil biota are crucial for plant species coexistence. The study investigated the effects of soil legacies on plant species colonisation success. The results showed that colonisation success was mainly influenced by species' reproductive strategy, spread ability, and growth rate, rather than the species that conditioned the soil patch. Therefore, plant species' inherent characteristics play a more important role in colonisation processes than soil legacy effects.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Weier Liu, Christian Fritz, Sanderine Nonhebel, Henk F. Everts, Ab P. Grootjans
Summary: The study shows that long-term restoration management on agricultural peatlands can be successful at the landscape level. While biodiversity indicators showed small differences over time due to a mixture of positive and negative changes at different locations, significantly higher landscape heterogeneity was achieved.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yingji Pan, Ellen Cieraad, Jean Armstrong, William Armstrong, Beverley R. Clarkson, Ole Pedersen, Eric J. W. Visser, Laurentius A. C. J. Voesenek, Peter M. van Bodegom
Summary: Plant strategies in flooded conditions are independent from other trait dimensions, indicating no generic trade-off associated with flooding adaptations. Individual flooding-induced traits themselves are largely decoupled from each other.
Article
Agronomy
R. J. E. Vroom, J. J. M. Geurts, R. Nouta, A. C. W. Borst, L. P. M. Lamers, C. Fritz
Summary: N loading in paludiculture with T. latifolia and P. australis boosts biomass production while kick-starting peatland ecosystem services including nutrient removal. Nutrient availability and pH appear to be decisive soil characteristics when it comes to crop selection.
Article
Plant Sciences
A. H. W. Koks, C. Fritz, A. J. P. Smolders, K. Rehlmeyer, J. T. M. Elzenga, S. Krosse, L. P. M. Lamers, G. van Dijk
Summary: The growth and functioning of Sphagnum mosses are influenced by water level and chemistry. High levels of bicarbonate have a detrimental effect on most tested Sphagnum species, while calcium has a negative impact on a few species. Conservation efforts should aim to limit flooding with bicarbonate-rich waters and explore alternative management options to lower bicarbonate levels.
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ralph J. M. Temmink, Leon P. M. Lamers, Christine Angelini, Tjeerd J. Bouma, Christian Fritz, Johan van de Koppel, Robin Lexmond, Max Rietkerk, Brian R. Silliman, Hans Joosten, Tjisse van der Heide
Summary: Biogeomorphic wetlands, covering only 1% of Earth's surface, store 20% of ecosystem organic carbon. However, human activities are causing rapid declines in the area of these wetlands, emphasizing the need for conservation and restoration.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Weier Liu, Christian Fritz, Stefan T. J. Weideveld, Ralf C. H. Aben, Merit van den Berg, Mandy Velthuis
Summary: Estimating annual CO2 budgets on drained peatlands is important for understanding CO2 emissions and evaluating mitigation techniques. This study proposes a four-tier framework for selecting gap-filling methods based on the complexity of models and dataset. The results show that different gap-filling methods give similar annual estimates but different intra-annual CO2 fluxes, and selecting the appropriate method does not affect the detection of treatment effects.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Judith M. Sarneel, Mariet M. Hefting, Eric J. W. Visser, Ruben Diaz-Sierra, Laurentius A. C. J. Voesenek, George A. Kowalchuk
Summary: This study investigated whether phenotypic plasticity in response to flooding and drought affected the balance between competition and facilitation for species with specific adaptations to drought or flooding.
JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Blanca Paschen, Nicole Wrage-Moennig, Christian Fritz, Florian Wichern
Summary: This study investigated the nitrogen uptake from cover crop rhizodeposits by different domestication levels of wheat and barley. The results showed that domestication level was not related to the ability of cereals to take up nitrogen from rhizodeposits, and the nitrogen provision from rhizodeposits was driven by other factors like mineralization. However, some cultivars exhibited higher nitrogen uptake efficiency.
JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION AND SOIL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Coline C. F. Boonman, Tom S. Heuts, Renske J. E. Vroom, Jeroen J. M. Geurts, Christian Fritz
Summary: This study compares the initial methane emissions from newly rewetted peat with different types of vegetation and nitrogen loading. The results show that vegetation can reduce methane emissions from wetlands, while nitrogen addition does not have a significant impact on emissions.
Article
Ecology
Stefan Theodorus Johannes Weideveld, Weier Liu, Merit van den Berg, Leon Peter Maria Lamers, Christian Fritz
Summary: The study evaluated the effects of applying subsoil irrigation system on greenhouse gas emissions in drained peatlands, finding that while SSI modulated water table dynamics, it did not lower annual carbon emissions.