Phytoextraction of soil Cd and Zn may require reduction in soil pH in order to achieve high metal uptake. Reducing the pH of high metal soil, however, could negatively affect soil ecosystem function and health. The objectives of this study were to characterize the quantitative causal relationship between pH and soil biological activities in two Zn and Cd contaminated soils and to investigate th...

Enhanced biodegradation in the rhizosphere has been reported for many organic xenobiotic compounds, although the mechanisms are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to discover whether rhizosphere-enhanced biodegradation is due to selective enrichment of degraders through growth on compounds produced by rhizodeposition. We monitored the mineralization of [U-(14)C]2,4-dichlorophen...

Modulation of the effect of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) with hapten, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc), in case of pre-sowing treatment of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum cv Rannyaya 93) seeds, on the biological components of the system ’’plant – soil – microorganisms” was studied. The application of WGA (100 nM) stimulated root formation, biomass production, total chlorophyll content and wheat g...

Soil nutrients and microbial communities are the two key factors in revegetation of barren environments. Ecological stoichiometry plays an important role in ecosystem function and limitation, but the relationships between above- and belowground stoichiometry and the bacterial communities in a typical karst region are poorly understood. We used pepino (Solanum muricatum) to examine the stoichiom...

The fungal loop model of semiarid ecosystems integrates microtopographic structures and pulse dynamics with key microbial processes. However limited data exist about the composition and structure of fungal communities in these ecosystems. The goal of this study was to characterize diversity and structure of soil fungal communities in a semiarid grassland. The effect of long-term nitrogen fertil...