Fires are critical pathways of carbon loss from boreal forest soils, whereas microbial communities form equally critical controls over carbon accumulation between fires. We used a chronosequence in Alaska to test Read’s hypothesis that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi should dominate ecosystems with low accumulation of surface litter, and ectomycorrhizal fungi should proliferate where organic horiz...

Bioaccumulation of Cd(2+) in soil bacteria might represent an important route of metal transfer to associated mycorrhizal fungi and plants and may have potential as a tool to accelerate Cd(2+) extraction in the bioremediation of contaminated soils. The present study examined the bioaccumulation of Cd(2+) in 15 bacterial strains representing three phyla (Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroid...

One-year-old seedlings of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) were grown in pots filled with a soil substrate that originated from an area polluted by a phosphate fertiliser factory and characterised by a high soil Al level and low Ca/Al ratio or with a substrate from an area regarded as free from toxic pollution. In addition the effect of fertilisation with a mixture of nutrients was evaluated...

Cell walls are deeply involved in the molecular talk between partners during plant and microbe interactions, and their role in mycorrhizae, i.e., the widespread symbiotic associations established between plant roots and soil fungi, has been investigated extensively. All mycorrhizal interactions achieve full symbiotic functionality through the development of an extensive contact surface between ...

Accurate projections of the future land carbon (C) sink by terrestrial biosphere models depend on how nutrient constraints on net primary production are represented. While nutrient limitation is nearly universal, current models do not have a C cost for plant nutrient acquisition. Also missing are symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi, which can consume up to 20% of net primary production and supply up to...

To assess the effect of fire and salvage logging on the diversity of mycorrhizal-bacterial communities, bacteria associated with Cenococcum, Thelephora, Tomentella, Russulaceae, and E-strain ectomycorrhizae (ECM) of Abies lasiocarpa seedlings were characterized using two approaches. First, bacteria were isolated and characterized by Biolog, gas chromatography fatty acid methyl ester (GC-FAME), ...

ycorrhizae are ancient, widespread associations between fungi and the roots of many species of plants. In these symbioses, the plants supply carbohydrates (the products of photosynthesis) to their fungal partners, which reciprocate by facilitating the uptake of mineral nutrients from the soil. In a reversal of the usual relationship , some non-photosynthetic plants — termed epiparasites — obtai...

Large-scale, long-term FACE (Free-Air CO2 enrichment) experiments indicate that increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations will influence forest C cycling in unpredictable ways. It has been recently suggested that responses of mycorrhizal fungi could determine whether forest net primary productivity (NPP) is increased by elevated CO2 over long time periods and if forests soils will function as...