Decomposing benefits: Examining the impact of beech deadwood on soil properties and microbial diversity.

Deadwood is an important element of forest ecosystems that affects many of its components, including the soil environment. Our research is an attempt to determine the role of decaying wood in shaping the properties of forest soils in mountain ecosystems. The aim of our research was to present the influence of beech deadwood on physicochemical properties and microbiological diversity of soils.

Bacteria Associated with Spores of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Improve the Effectiveness of Fungal Inocula for Red Raspberry Biotization.

Intensive crop production leads to the disruption of the symbiosis between plants and their associated microorganisms, resulting in suboptimal plant productivity and lower yield quality. Therefore, it is necessary to improve existing methods and explore modern, environmentally friendly approaches to crop production. One of these methods is biotization, which involves the inoculation of plants with appropriately selected symbiotic microorganisms which play a beneficial role in plant adaptation to the environment.

The effect of shrubs admixture in pine forest stands on soil bacterial and fungal communities and accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of persistent toxic pollutants. The species composition of the stand is important in shaping the quality of soil organic matter and, consequently, the PAH content. The main purpose of the research was to determine the role of shrubs in shaping PAH accumulation in forest soils.

How does metal soil pollution change the plant mycobiome?

Microorganisms play a key role in plant adaptation to the environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of toxic metals present in the soil on the biodiversity of plant-related, endophytic mycobiota. The mycobiome of plants and soil from a Zn-Pb heap and a metal-free ruderal area were compared via Illumina sequencing of the ITS1 rDNA.

Iron inactivation by Sporobolomyces ruberrimus and its potential role in plant metal stress protection. An in vitro study.

The endophytic Basidiomycete Sporobolomyces ruberrimus protects its host Arabidopsis arenosa against metal toxicity. Plants inoculated with the fungus yielded more biomass and exhibited significantly fewer stress symptoms in medium mimicking mine dump conditions (medium supplemented with excess of Fe, Zn and Cd). Aside from fine-tuning plant metal homeostasis, the fungus was capable of precipitating Fe in the medium, most likely limiting host exposure to metal toxicity.

Endophytic yeast protect plants against metal toxicity by inhibiting plant metal uptake through an ethylene-dependent mechanism.

Toxic metal pollution requires significant adjustments in plant metabolism. Here, we show that the plant microbiota plays an important role in this process. The endophytic Sporobolomyces ruberrimus isolated from a serpentine population of Arabidopsis arenosa protected plants against excess metals.

Biotization of highbush blueberry with ericoid mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi improves plant growth and vitality.

Ecological methods are becoming increasingly popular. One of these methods is plant biotization. In our paper, we focus on selection of Vaccinium corymbosum hairy root-inhabiting fungi for plant growth promotion in a single microorganism inoculation setup and then composed a multiorganismal inoculum enriched with a representative of another group of fungi, leaf endophytes.

Phytohormone based biostimulant combined with plant growth promoting endophytic fungus enhances Ni phytoextraction of Noccaea goesingensis.

To improve the efficiency of Ni phytoextraction, the metal hyperaccumulator N. goesingensis was subject to treatment with a combination of a Ni uptake stimulating microorganism and the commercially available, IAA- based biostimulating seaweed extract - Kelpak. Additionally, we compared the plant growth promoting and Ni uptake capabilities of the two biofertilizers.

The effect of endophytic fungi on growth and nickel accumulation in Noccaea hyperaccumulators.

The role of endophytic fungi isolated from different populations of European Ni hyperaccumulators was investigated in regard to the microorganisms' ability to enhance the hyperaccumulation of Ni in Noccaea caerulescens. Effects of particular species of endophytic fungi on adaptation of N. caerulescens to excess Ni were tested by co-cultivation with single strains of the fungi.

Extraordinary Multi-Organismal Interactions Involving Bacteriophages, Bacteria, Fungi, and Rotifers: Quadruple Microbial Trophic Network in Water Droplets.

Our observations of predatory fungi trapping rotifers in activated sludge and laboratory culture allowed us to discover a complicated trophic network that includes predatory fungi armed with bacteria and bacteriophages and the rotifers they prey on. Such a network seems to be common in various habitats, although it remains mostly unknown due to its microscopic size. In this study, we isolated and identified fungi and bacteria from activated sludge.

Soil fungal diversity and biological activity as indicators of fertilization strategies in a forest ecosystem after spruce disintegration in the Karpaty Mountains.

Forest soils are being exposed to nutrient deficiency and acidification at increasing rates as a result of intensive management. Mineral fertilization, however, provides a way to improve soil nutrient balance. The aim of this study is to present the effects of mineral fertilization on the properties of forest soil 11 years after fertilization.

Transcriptome Response of Metallicolous and a Non-Metallicolous Ecotypes of to Nickel Excess.

Root transcriptomic profile was comparatively studied in a serpentine (TM) and a non-metallicolous (NTM) population of in order to investigate possible features of Ni hyperaccumulation. Both populations were characterised by contrasting Ni tolerance and accumulation capacity. The growth of the TM population was unaffected by metal excess, while the shoot biomass production in the NTM population was significantly lower in the presence of Ni in the culture medium.

Acclimation of the photosynthetic apparatus and alterations in sugar metabolism in response to inoculation with endophytic fungi.

The role of an endophytic Zygomycete Mucor sp. in growth promotion and adaptation of the photosynthetic apparatus to increased energy demands of its hosts Arabidopsis arenosa and Arabidopsis thaliana was evaluated. Inoculation with the fungus improved the water use efficiency of the plants and allowed for them to utilize incident light for photochemistry more effectively by upregulating the expression of several photosystem I- and II-related genes and their respective proteins, proteins involved in light harvesting in PSII and PSI and carbon assimilation.

Mucor sp.-An endophyte of Brassicaceae capable of surviving in toxic metal-rich sites.

The aim of this study was to assess the biodiversity of endophytic fungi from Arabidopsis arenosa growing on a post mining waste dump and to evaluate their role in plant adaptation to metal toxicity. Severeal of the fungi were beneficial for the plant. Among them, a fungus belonging to the Mucor genus, was found to interact with a broad range of plants, including Brassicaceae metallophytes.

Metal resistant rhizobia and ultrastructure of Anthyllis vulneraria nodules from zinc and lead contaminated tailing in Poland.

This present paper studies the response of Anthyllis vulneraria-Rhizobium symbiosis to heavy metal stress. The symbiotic rhizobium bacteria isolated from root nodules of A. vulneraria from zinc and lead wastes were examined in this project.

The Role of Strigolactone in the Cross-Talk Between and the Endophytic Fungus sp.

Over the last years the role of fungal endophytes in plant biology has been extensively studied. A number of species were shown to positively affect plant growth and fitness, thus attempts have been made to utilize these microorganisms in agriculture and phytoremediation. Plant-fungi symbiosis requires multiple metabolic adjustments of both of the interacting organisms.

Does co-inoculation of Lactuca serriola with endophytic and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi improve plant growth in a polluted environment?

Phytoremediation of polluted sites can be improved by co-inoculation with mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi. In this study, the effects of single- and co-inoculation of Lactuca serriola with an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, Rhizoglomus intraradices, and endophytic fungi, Mucor sp. or Trichoderma asperellum, on plant growth, vitality, toxic metal accumulation, sesquiterpene lactone production and flavonoid concentration in the presence of toxic metals were evaluated.

Arbuscular mycorrhiza improves yield and nutritional properties of onion (Allium cepa).

Improving the nutritional value of commonly cultivated crops is one of the most pending problems for modern agriculture. In natural environments plants associate with a multitude of fungal microorganisms that improve plant fitness. The best described group are arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF).