Variation Among Japanese Miso Breweries in Indoor Microbiomes is Mainly Ascribed to Variation in Type of Indoor Surface.

Miso is a microbially-fermented soybean food. The miso brewery indoor microbiome contributes to miso fermentation. Japanese breweries are not climate-controlled, so indoor spaces are strongly affected by the prevailing climate.

Carbon and phosphorus exchange rates in arbuscular mycorrhizas depend on environmental context and differ among co-occurring plants.

Phosphorus (P) for carbon (C) exchange is the pivotal function of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM), but how this exchange varies with soil P availability and among co-occurring plants in complex communities is still largely unknown. We collected intact plant communities in two regions differing c. 10-fold in labile inorganic P.

Coupled anaerobic methane oxidation and metal reduction in soil under elevated CO.

Continued current emissions of carbon dioxide (CO ) and methane (CH ) by human activities will increase global atmospheric CO and CH concentrations and surface temperature significantly. Fields of paddy rice, the most important form of anthropogenic wetlands, account for about 9% of anthropogenic sources of CH . Elevated atmospheric CO may enhance CH production in rice paddies, potentially reinforcing the increase in atmospheric CH .

Many foliar endophytic fungi of Quercus gambelii are capable of psychrotolerant saprotrophic growth.

Many endophytic fungi have the potential to function as saprotrophs when living host tissues senesce and enter the litter pool. The consumption of plant litter by fungi obviously requires moisture but, in the arid, western USA, the native range of Quercus gambelii Nutt., most of the precipitation occurs during the coldest months of the year.

On Holobionts, Holospecies, and Holoniches: the Role of Microbial Symbioses in Ecology and Evolution.

My goal in writing this is to increase awareness of the roles played by microbial symbionts in eukaryote ecology and evolution. Most eukaryotes host one or more species of symbiotic microorganisms, including prokaryotes and fungi. Many of these have profound impacts on the biology of their hosts.

Soil Properties Interacting With Microbial Metagenome in Decreasing CH Emission From Seasonally Flooded Marshland Following Different Stages of Afforestation.

Wetlands are the largest natural source of terrestrial CH emissions. Afforestation can enhance soil CH oxidation and decrease methanogenesis, yet the driving mechanisms leading to these effects remain unclear. We analyzed the structures of communities of methanogenic and methanotrophic microbes, quantification of A and A genes, the soil microbial metagenome, soil properties and CH fluxes in afforested and non-afforested areas in the marshland of the Yangtze River.

The protection of from ultraviolet radiation by betacyanins and phenolic compounds.

is a commonly occurring annual species of the salt playas of the Great Basin Desert of the western United States. In such habitats, plants experience high levels of ultraviolet radiation, which could potentially damage DNA. As a member of the Amaranthaceae (Caryophyllales), .

Large losses of ammonium-nitrogen from a rice ecosystem under elevated CO.

Inputs of nitrogen into terrestrial ecosystems, mainly via the use of ammonium-based fertilizers in agroecosystems, are enormous, but the fate of this nitrogen under elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO) is not well understood. We have taken advantage of a 15-year free-air CO enrichment study to investigate the influence of elevated CO on the transformation of ammonium-nitrogen in a rice ecosystem in which ammonium is usually assumed to be stable under anaerobic conditions. We demonstrate that elevated CO causes substantial losses of ammonium-nitrogen that result from anaerobic oxidation of ammonium coupled to reduction of iron.

The Dynamics of Interacting Bacterial and Fungal Communities of the Mouse Colon Following Antibiotics.

We tested two hypotheses concerning the dynamics of intestinal microbial communities of young mice following antibiotic-induced disturbance. The first is that disturbance of the bacterial community causes disturbance of the fungal community. Our results were consistent with that hypothesis.

The role of resource transfer in positive, non-additive litter decomposition.

Naturally occurring, mixed litter decomposes at unpredictable rates when individual components do not decompose in mixtures as they do individually. Consequently, nutrient, carbon and energy fluxes associated with decomposition may be difficult to predict. However, predictability is improved when we understand the mechanisms responsible for such non-additive decomposition.

The role of inoculum dispersal and plant species identity in the assembly of leaf endophytic fungal communities.

Because of disturbance and plant species loss at the local level, many arid ecosystems in the western USA benefit from revegetation. There is a growing interest in improving revegetation success by purposefully inoculating revegetation plants with mutualistic endophytic fungi that increase plant stress tolerance. However, inoculant fungi must compete against fungi that indigenous to the habitat, many of which may not be mutualistic.

Biotic filtering of endophytic fungal communities in Bromus tectorum.

The assembly of horizontally transmitted endophytic fungi within plant tissues may be affected by "biotic filtering". In other words, only particular endophytic fungal taxa from the available inoculum pool may be able to colonize a given plant species. We tested that hypothesis in Bromus tectorum, an important invasive species in the arid, western United States.

Exploring the role of ectomycorrhizal fungi in soil carbon dynamics.

The extent to which ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi enable plants to access organic nitrogen (N) bound in soil organic matter (SOM) and transfer this growth-limiting nutrient to their plant host, has important implications for our understanding of plant-fungal interactions, and the cycling and storage of carbon (C) and N in terrestrial ecosystems. Empirical evidence currently supports a range of perspectives, suggesting that ECM vary in their ability to provide their host with N bound in SOM, and that this capacity can both positively and negatively influence soil C storage. To help resolve the multiplicity of observations, we gathered a group of researchers to explore the role of ECM fungi in soil C dynamics, and propose new directions that hold promise to resolve competing hypotheses and contrasting observations.

Common mycorrhizal networks influence the distribution of mineral nutrients between an invasive plant, Solidago canadensis, and a native plant, Kummerowa striata.

Invasive species often reduce ecosystem services and lead to a serious threat to native biodiversity. Roots of invasive plants are often linked to roots of native plants by common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, but whether and how CMNs mediate interactions between invasive and native plant species remains largely uninvestigated. We conducted two microcosm experiments, one in which we amended the soil with mineral N and another in which we amended the soil with mineral P.

The continuing relevance of "older" mycorrhiza literature: insights from the work of John Laker Harley (1911-1990).

To new generations of scientists beginning their careers in research, we strongly recommend the practice of reading older literature. To illustrate the value of doing so, we highlight six insights of one of the most influential mycorrhiza researchers of the twentieth century, Jack Harley. These insights concerning mycotrophy, the new niche, the sheath, C cycling, N cycling, and mutualism were published prior to 1975 and so may have escaped the notice of many, but they laid the groundwork for some of the most important research of today.

A regionally-adapted implementation of conservation agriculture delivers rapid improvements to soil properties associated with crop yield stability.

Climate models predict increasing weather variability, with negative consequences for crop production. Conservation agriculture (CA) may enhance climate resilience by generating certain soil improvements. However, the rate at which these improvements accrue is unclear, and some evidence suggests CA can lower yields relative to conventional systems unless all three CA elements are implemented: reduced tillage, sustained soil cover, and crop rotational diversity.

Mycorrhizal fungi and roots are complementary in foraging within nutrient patches.

The roots of the majority of tree species are associated with either arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) or ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi. The absorptive roots of tree species also vary widely in their diameter. The linkages between root thickness, mycorrhiza type and nutrient foraging are poorly understood.

Root morphology and mycorrhizal symbioses together shape nutrient foraging strategies of temperate trees.

Photosynthesis by leaves and acquisition of water and minerals by roots are required for plant growth, which is a key component of many ecosystem functions. Although the role of leaf functional traits in photosynthesis is generally well understood, the relationship of root functional traits to nutrient uptake is not. In particular, predictions of nutrient acquisition strategies from specific root traits are often vague.

MycoDB, a global database of plant response to mycorrhizal fungi.

Plants form belowground associations with mycorrhizal fungi in one of the most common symbioses on Earth. However, few large-scale generalizations exist for the structure and function of mycorrhizal symbioses, as the nature of this relationship varies from mutualistic to parasitic and is largely context-dependent. We announce the public release of MycoDB, a database of 4,010 studies (from 438 unique publications) to aid in multi-factor meta-analyses elucidating the ecological and evolutionary context in which mycorrhizal fungi alter plant productivity.

Soil Functional Zone Management: A Vehicle for Enhancing Production and Soil Ecosystem Services in Row-Crop Agroecosystems.

There is increasing global demand for food, bioenergy feedstocks and a wide variety of bio-based products. In response, agriculture has advanced production, but is increasingly depleting soil regulating and supporting ecosystem services. New production systems have emerged, such as no-tillage, that can enhance soil services but may limit yields.

Linking root traits to nutrient foraging in arbuscular mycorrhizal trees in a temperate forest.

The identification of plant functional traits that can be linked to ecosystem processes is of wide interest, especially for predicting vegetational responses to climate change. Root diameter of the finest absorptive roots may be one plant trait that has wide significance. Do species with relatively thick absorptive roots forage in nutrient-rich patches differently from species with relatively fine absorptive roots? We measured traits related to nutrient foraging (root morphology and architecture, root proliferation, and mycorrhizal colonization) across six coexisting arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) temperate tree species with and without nutrient addition.

Complementarity in nutrient foraging strategies of absorptive fine roots and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi across 14 coexisting subtropical tree species.

In most cases, both roots and mycorrhizal fungi are needed for plant nutrient foraging. Frequently, the colonization of roots by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi seems to be greater in species with thick and sparsely branched roots than in species with thin and densely branched roots. Yet, whether a complementarity exists between roots and mycorrhizal fungi across these two types of root system remains unclear.

Effects of ditch-buried straw return on water percolation, nitrogen leaching and crop yields in a rice-wheat rotation system.

Background: Crop residue management and nitrogen loss are two important environmental problems in the rice-wheat rotation system in China. This study investigated the effects of burial of straw on water percolation, nitrogen loss by leaching, crop growth and yield. Greenhouse mesocosm experiments were conducted over the course of three simulated cropping seasons in a rice1-wheat-rice2 rotation.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal mediation of plant-plant interactions in a marshland plant community.

Obligate aerobic AMF taxa have high species richness under waterlogged conditions, but their ecological role remains unclear. Here we focused on AM fungal mediation of plant interactions in a marshland plant community. Five cooccurring plant species were chosen for a neighbor removal experiment in which benomyl was used to suppress AMF colonization.