Plant traits related to nitrogen uptake influence plant-microbe competition

Nitrogen deposition weakens plant-microbe interactions in grassland ecosystems.

Soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stoichiometry is a main driver of ecosystem functioning. Global N enrichment has greatly changed soil C : N ratios, but how altered resource stoichiometry influences the complexity of direct and indirect interactions among plants, soils, and microbial communities has rarely been explored. Here, we investigated the responses of the plant-soil-microbe system to mu...

Linking Plant Nutritional Status to Plant-Microbe Interactions

Plants have developed a wide-range of adaptations to overcome nutrient limitation, including changes to the quantity and composition of carbon-containing compounds released by roots. Root-associated bacteria are largely influenced by these compounds which can be perceived as signals or substrates. Here, we evaluate the effect of root exudates collected from maize plants grown under nitrogen (N)...

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions

Evolutionary ecology of plant-microbe interactions: soil microbial structure alters selection on plant traits.

• Below-ground microbial communities influence plant diversity, plant productivity, and plant community composition. Given these strong ecological effects, are interactions with below-ground microbes also important for understanding natural selection on plant traits? • Here, we manipulated below-ground microbial communities and the soil moisture environment on replicated populations of Brassica...

Diffuse symbioses: roles of plant-plant, plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions in structuring the soil microbiome.

A conceptual model emphasizing direct host-microbe interactions has dominated work on host-associated microbiomes. To understand plant-microbiome associations, however, broader influences on microbiome composition and functioning must be incorporated, such as those arising from plant-plant and microbe-microbe interactions. We sampled soil microbiomes associated with target plant species (Androp...