Monitoring the impact of confinement on hyphal penetration and fungal behavior.

Through their expansive mycelium network, soil fungi alter the physical arrangement and chemical composition of their local environment. This can significantly impact bacterial distribution and nutrient transport and can play a dramatic role in shaping the rhizosphere around a developing plant. However, direct observation and quantitation of such behaviors is extremely difficult due to the opacity and complex porosity of the soil microenvironment.

Accessing Fungal Contributions to the Birch Effect: Real-Time Respiration from Pore-Scale Microfluidics.

Drying and rewetting of soil stimulates soil carbon emission. The Birch effect, driven by these cycles, leads to CO efflux, which can be monitored using real-time mass spectrometry (RTMS). Although soil fungi retain water during droughts, their contribution to CO release during drying-rewetting cycles remains unclear.

Optogenetics in Enables Spatial Control of Exopolysaccharide Production and Biofilm Structure.

Microorganisms play a vital role in shaping the soil environment and enhancing plant growth by interacting with plant root systems. Because of the vast diversity of cell types involved, combined with dynamic and spatial heterogeneity, identifying the causal contribution of a defined factor, such as a microbial exopolysaccharide (EPS), remains elusive. Synthetic approaches that enable orthogonal control of microbial pathways are a promising means to dissect such complexity.

Extracellular single-unit recordings from peripheral nerve axons in vitro by a novel multichannel microelectrode array.

The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is an attractive target for modulation of afferent input (e.g., nociceptive input signaling tissue damage) to the central nervous system.