Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Danyang Yuan, Liangjun Zhu, Paolo Cherubini, Zongshan Li, Yuandong Zhang, Xiaochun Wang
Summary: Temperate forests in northeast Asia are crucial for biodiversity conservation and ecological security. The radial growth of 13 co-occurring tree species is largely influenced by temperature and moisture, with different species showing varied responses to climate change.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
William A. Argiroff, Donald R. Zak, Rima A. Upchurch, Peter T. Pellitier, Julia P. Belke
Summary: Understanding the genetic differences among soil microorganisms and their regulation of spatial patterns in litter decay is a persistent challenge in ecology. Fine root decay, which accounts for around 50% of total litter production in forest ecosystems, remains less understood compared to aboveground litter decay. In this study, the researchers evaluated whether fine root decay is influenced by the genetic potential of the fungal communities present. They also investigated whether the decay-fungal gene connections can be identified by categorizing the fungi into different functional groups based on the presence of genes encoding specific ligninolytic enzymes. The results suggested that fine root decay is influenced by the genetic potential of the fungal communities, particularly in relation to cellulose and hemicellulose decay. The study also found that the genetic potential for decay varied between different fungal functional groups, with ligninolytic saprotrophic fungi having the highest potential and ectomycorrhizal fungi with ligninolytic peroxidases having the lowest potential for plant cell wall degradation. The findings highlight the importance of fungal community composition and genetic variation in controlling fine root decay in temperate forests at regional scales.
Article
Plant Sciences
Christopher J. Sweeney, Franciska T. de Vries, Bart E. van Dongen, Richard D. Bardgett
Summary: Plant species identity, phylogeny, and functional traits all play a role in shaping rhizosphere fungal communities, with root traits being stronger predictors than leaf traits. These relationships remain consistent regardless of environmental changes, highlighting the key role of plant root traits in driving fungal community composition.
Article
Soil Science
Renske Jongen, S. Emilia Hannula, Jonathan R. De Long, Robin Heinen, Martine Huberty, Katja Steinauer, T. Martijn Bezemer
Summary: This study investigated the plant species-specific microbial communities as mediators of soil legacies, finding that soil legacy effects on decomposition and soil decomposer community composition were most evident shortly after the start of the feedback phase, but disappeared after the establishment of a new plant community. Soil conditioning time and years since disturbance consistently affected soil functions, with no strong effects observed from plant functional group and growth strategy. Recovery time, rather than soil legacy effects, was identified as the most important factor driving soil functions after disturbance.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tereza Novakova, Tomas Navratil, Jason D. Demers, Michal Roll, Jan Rohovec
Summary: Comparisons of tree-ring mercury records between Scots pine and European larch in the Czech Republic showed that larch tree-ring records more closely matched peat archive records, suggesting that larch is a more reliable indicator of atmospheric mercury concentrations than Scots pine.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Luis Daniel Prada-Salcedo, Kezia Goldmann, Anna Heintz-Buschart, Thomas Reitz, Janna Wambsganss, Jurgen Bauhus, Francois Buscot
Summary: Research shows that tree traits have a significant impact on soil fungal communities, rather than tree species diversity. Tree traits can be categorized as 'fast' and 'slow', driving different fungal guilds and influencing biogeochemical cycles.
Article
Plant Sciences
Giai Petit, Maurizio Mencuccini, Marco Carrer, Angela Luisa Prendin, Teemu Holtta
Summary: The transition from sapwood to heartwood is determined by conduit widening, tree height, and height growth rate. The adjustment of xylem to maintain a constant sapwood conductance with increasing height is still under debate. The hydraulic diameter of conduit and the number of sapwood rings at stem base may not increase with height, but they may be influenced by stem elongation.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Katarzyna Rozek, Dominika Chmolowska, Inaki Odriozola, Tomas Vetrovsky, Kaja Rola, Petr Kohout, Petr Baldrian, Szymon Zubek
Summary: Understanding the effects of different tree species on soil microbial diversity is crucial for sustainable forest management. This study compared the effects of 14 tree species in Poland and Europe on fungal and bacterial diversity in soils. Results showed that Acer pseudoplatanus had the highest fungal species richness, while Carpinus betulus and Quercus rubra had the lowest. Tree species identity mainly influenced fungal composition, while soil chemical properties such as pH and exchangeable Ca, K and Mg influenced bacterial composition.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Benjamin Hofmann, Lukas Dreyling, Francesco Dal Grande, Juergen Otte, Imke Schmitt
Summary: Trees interact with fungi in various ways, and tree species and habitat type both play important roles in shaping fungal communities. This study found that soil communities were more diverse than bark communities, and both tree species identity and habitat type influenced fungal community composition. Network analysis showed that aboveground and belowground communities formed distinct subnetworks.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Veronica Ferreira, Albano Figueiredo, Manuel A. S. Graca, Elizabete Marchante, Ana Pereira
Summary: Biological invasions, particularly of woody species, can have cross-ecosystem effects, especially in meta-ecosystems like stream-riparian forests. The invasion of N-fixing species in temperate deciduous broadleaf forests can lead to changes in stream ecosystem functioning, affecting water quality, flow, and litter input characteristics. Different traits of native and invasive tree species, environmental conditions, and the extent of invasion can influence the magnitude of these effects on streams, potentially jeopardizing multiple ecosystem services.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Rondy J. Malik, Mary Ann Bruns, Terrence H. Bell, David M. Eissenstat
Summary: This study found that root zone macroinvertebrates can potentially limit woody carbon cycling, while mycorrhizal type does not play a significant role. Trees with larger root diameters can accelerate carbon cycling, as can trees associated with certain phylogenetic clades.
Article
Forestry
Marcin Jakubowski, Marek Dobroczynski
Summary: The study examined the wood density allocation in oaks grown under canopy of Scots pine, focusing on different parts of the trees such as the trunk and branches. Results showed significant differences in density between the central part of the trunk and heartwood compared to the outer part and sapwood, with a positive correlation between wood density and crown length.
Article
Plant Sciences
A. Kahmen, D. Basler, G. Hoch, R. M. Link, B. Schuldt, C. Zahnd, M. Arend
Summary: We studied the mechanisms causing differences in drought vulnerability among nine co-occurring tree species during the 2018 European drought at the Swiss Canopy Crane II site. We found that structural-morphological traits, particularly root water uptake depth, are associated with species differences in drought vulnerability.
Article
Ecology
Amelia A. Fitch, Ashley K. Lang, Emily D. Whalen, Eliza M. Helmers, Sarah G. Goldsmith, Caitlin Hicks Pries
Summary: Forests in the northeastern US are facing shifts in community composition due to the northward migration of warm-adapted tree species and declines of certain species caused by invasive insects. These changes will impact belowground fungal communities and their associated functions. This study examined the importance of mycorrhizal type and leaf habit on soil fungal communities and organic matter cycling. Results showed that each tree species had distinct fungal communities and mycorrhizal type was a better predictor of fungal communities. Saprotrophic fungi played a significant role in shaping fungal community differences in soils beneath all tree species.
Article
Ecology
Lun Ao, Meichun Zhao, Xin Li, Guangyu Sun
Summary: The selection of tree species for urban afforestation and soil properties both play significant roles in determining the composition and diversity of soil microbial communities in urban forests, which in turn affects the health and material cycling of the urban forest ecosystem.
Article
Ecology
Sara Fareed Mohamed Wahdan, Shakhawat Hossen, Benjawan Tanunchai, Chakriya Sansupa, Martin Schaedler, Matthias Noll, Turki M. Dawoud, Yu-Ting Wu, Francois Buscot, Witoon Purahong
Summary: This study found that future climate accelerated wheat litter mass loss significantly and directly affected fungal communities, while also exerting indirect effects on microbial interactions and corresponding enzyme production. The changes under future climate significantly impacted the early phase of wheat litter decomposition by altering microbial richness, community compositions, and enzyme activities. The study highlights the importance of understanding microbial responses to climate change in litter decomposition processes.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jose A. Siles, Marta Diaz-Lopez, Alfonso Vera, Nico Eisenhauer, Carlos A. Guerra, Linnea C. Smith, Francois Buscot, Thomas Reitz, Claudia Breitkreuz, Johan van den Hoogen, Thomas W. Crowther, Alberto Orgiazzi, Yakov Kuzyakov, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Felipe Bastida
Summary: Land use is a critical factor in soil carbon cycling and content changes. The priming effect, which refers to CO2 emissions resulting from the decomposition of fresh carbon inputs, is unpredictable but important in nutrient mobilization. This study, conducted across 22 European countries, revealed that priming effects were generally negative in both seminatural and cropland soils. The magnitude of priming effects was influenced by land use, with seminatural ecosystems showing higher levels compared to croplands. Additionally, the type of crop did not significantly impact the priming effects.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Benjawan Tanunchai, Li Ji, Simon Andreas Schroeter, Sara Fareed Mohamed Wahdan, Shakhawat Hossen, Yoseph Delelegn, Francois Buscot, Ann-Sophie Lehnert, Eliane Gomes Alves, Ines Hilke, Gerd Gleixner, Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Matthias Noll, Witoon Purahong
Summary: This study compared the assignment quality and quantity of the FungalTraits and FUNGuild databases for fungal ITS-based amplicon sequencing datasets. The results showed that FungalTraits assigned more functional traits than FUNGuild, especially in terms of saprotrophs, plant pathogens, and endophytes. Additionally, FungalTraits performed better in assigning ASVs from different tree species, resulting in higher ASV richness and more diverse fungal functional community composition. The databases showed similar effects of environmental factors for saprotrophs but different patterns for endophytes.
Article
Microbiology
Rosalie Koenig, Jan Kiebist, Johannes Kalmbach, Robert Herzog, Kai-Uwe Schmidtke, Harald Kellner, Rene Ullrich, Nico Jehmlich, Martin Hofrichter, Katrin Scheibner
Summary: Lipid mediators, such as epoxidized or hydroxylated eicosanoids (EETs, HETEs), play diverse roles in physiological and pathophysiological processes. The use of specific enzymes or newly discovered peroxygenases can lead to selective synthesis of these compounds. This study expands the scope of peroxygenases and provides reference materials for diagnostics and therapeutic purposes.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Hannes Schuler, Radoslaw Witkowski, Bart van de Vossenberg, Bjorn Hoppe, Moritz Mittelbach, Tibor Bukovinszki, Stefan Schwembacher, Bas van de Meulengraaf, Uwe Lange, Sabine Rode, Alessandro Andriolo, Marta Belka, Andrzej Mazur, Andrea Battisti
Summary: Euwallacea fornicatus beetles, a emerging tree pest, have caused significant damage to agricultural crops in Europe. Outbreaks of this species were reported in Poland, Italy, and Germany, with genetic differences found between the populations. Additionally, other beetle species and haplotypes not previously observed in Europe were detected in Dutch greenhouses. This study provides valuable insights into the invasion history of E. fornicatus and highlights the need for monitoring and eradication measures in tropical greenhouses across Europe.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Sara Fareed Mohamed Wahdan, Li Ji, Martin Schadler, Yu-Ting Wu, Chakriya Sansupa, Benjawan Tanunchai, Francois Buscot, Witoon Purahong
Summary: This study investigates the decomposition of wheat straw under future climate conditions and reveals that future climate will accelerate the decay rate of straw only in the early phases of decomposition. It also shows that the projected climate change will increase the abundance of saprotrophic fungi in decomposing wheat straw, and that the impact of future climate on microbial community assembly and interaction networks will depend on the decomposition phase. The study concludes that the impact of future climate on straw decay and microbial traits is limited to the early phases of decomposition.
Article
Polymer Science
Vusal Guliyev, Benjawan Tanunchai, Maria Udovenko, Oleg Menyailo, Bruno Glaser, Witoon Purahong, Francois Buscot, Evgenia Blagodatskaya
Summary: Expanding the use of environmentally friendly materials to protect the environment is important for maintaining a sustainable ecological balance. In this study, the decomposition process of PBSA and its impact on carbon stored in soil were investigated using stable isotope technique.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Manuel Gado, Annett Heinrich, Denise Wiedersich, Katrin Sameith, Andreas Dahl, Vasileia I. Alexaki, Michael M. Swarbrick, Ulrike Baschant, Ingo Grafe, Nikolaos Perakakis, Stefan R. Bornstein, Martina Rauner, Lorenz C. Hofbauer, Holger Henneicke
Summary: This study demonstrates that activation of the sympathetic nervous system through cold exposure or selective I33-adrenergic receptor agonist can alleviate the adverse metabolic effects caused by chronic glucocorticoid exposure. Cold exposure preserves the function of brown adipose tissue and reverses white adipose tissue lipid accumulation, correcting obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperglycemia caused by glucocorticoids.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-ENDOCRINOLOGY AND METABOLISM
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Andreas Schuldt, Xiaojuan Liu, Francois Buscot, Helge Bruelheide, Alexandra Erfmeier, Jin-Sheng He, Alexandra-Maria Klein, Keping Ma, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Bernhard Schmid, Thomas Scholten, Zhiyao Tang, Stefan Trogisch, Christian Wirth, Tesfaye Wubet, Michael Staab
Summary: Carbon-focused climate mitigation strategies are important in forests, but we need better understanding of their impact on biodiversity. A study using a large dataset from subtropical forests found that aboveground carbon was not strongly related to multitrophic diversity, while total carbon including belowground carbon was a significant predictor. Relationships were nonlinear and strongest for lower trophic levels. Tree species richness and stand age influenced these relationships, suggesting long-term forest regeneration is effective in reconciling carbon and biodiversity targets. This highlights the need to carefully evaluate the biodiversity benefits of climate-oriented management.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sharanya Bola, Pallavi Subramanian, Daniela Calzia, Andreas Dahl, Isabella Panfoli, Richard H. W. Funk, Cora Roehlecke
Summary: We conducted a detailed analysis of cellular events in blue light stressed 661W cells that were subjected to direct current electric field (EF) stimulation. Our findings revealed that EF stimulation can protect cells from blue light-induced stress through various defense mechanisms, including increased mitochondrial activity, elevated mitochondrial potential, increased superoxide levels, and activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathways. Our genetic screen results suggest that UPR pathway can be a potential therapeutic target for alleviating blue light-induced stress through EF stimulation. Hence, our study is significant for the clinical application of EF stimulation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biology
Diana Ezhkova, Simone Schwarzer, Sandra Spiess, Michaela Geffarth, Anja Machate, Daniela Zoeller, Johanna Stucke, Dimitra Alexopoulou, Mathias Lesche, Andreas Dahl, Stefan Hans
Summary: The vertebrate inner ear, which is responsible for hearing and balance, develops from the otic placode and is regulated by the distal-less homeodomain transcription factors Dlx3b/4b. Transcriptome analysis revealed numerous genes regulated by Dlx3b/4b, which are important for otic development. These findings provide valuable insights into the gene regulatory network and molecular control of inner ear formation, which may have implications for treating hearing loss in humans.
Article
Forestry
Pascal Edelmann, Wolfgang W. Weisser, Didem Ambarli, Claus Baessler, Francois Buscot, Martin Hofrichter, Bjorn Hoppe, Harald Kellner, Cynthia Minnich, Julia Moll, Derek Persoh, Sebastian Seibold, Claudia Seilwinder, Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Stephan Woellauer, Werner Borken
Summary: A long-term experiment in Germany suggests that climate, soil traits, and forest structure have significant impacts on the decay process and mass loss of deadwood. Soil nutrient content and precipitation have negative effects on mass loss, while temperature has a positive effect. Forest structure has a small influence on mass loss. The results indicate that at the regional scale, organismic diversity and microbial activity have a stronger impact on the decay process than exogenous factors.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Qicheng Bei, Thomas Reitz, Beatrix Schnabel, Nico Eisenhauer, Martin Schaedler, Francois Buscot, Anna Heintz-Buschart
Summary: The study investigates the effects of extreme summers and future climate scenarios on soil microbiomes. Extreme heatwaves and droughts in Central Europe during 2018-2019 significantly impacted the structure and function of soil microbiomes. Actinobacteria showed a competitive advantage in extreme summers due to the biosynthesis of geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anke Witt, Ivona Mateska, Alessandra Palladini, Anupam Sinha, Michele Woelk, Akiko Harauma, Nicole Bechmann, Christina Pamporaki, Andreas Dahl, Michael Rothe, Irakli Kopaliani, Christian Adolf, Anna Riester, Ben Wielockx, Stefan R. Bornstein, Matthias Kroiss, Mirko Peitzsch, Toru Moriguchi, Maria Fedorova, Michal Grzybek, Triantafyllos Chavakis, Peter Mirtschink, Vasileia Ismini Alexaki
Summary: Corticosteroids play a crucial role in regulating various physiological processes, and their production is influenced by the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content in mitochondrial phospholipids in adrenocortical cells. Inhibition of the enzyme FADS2, which is involved in PUFA synthesis, disrupts mitochondrial lipid composition and reduces steroidogenesis. FADS2 expression is elevated in obese mice, leading to increased corticosterone levels, but this can be countered by using FADS2 inhibitors or PUFA supplementation. Furthermore, FADS2 expression is elevated in aldosterone-producing adenomas in humans, indicating its role in adrenal steroidogenesis in health and disease.
