All Soil & Plant Science articles – Page 2
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NewsVIRE: a global data platform to better understand viruses
Researchers have released a comprehensive viral genome database covering diverse ecosystems to advance the understanding of viral evolution and ecosystem functions.
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NewsPlant extracts show promise in reducing human pathogen risks in agricultural soils
A new study has revealed that natural plant extracts can significantly lower the risks posed by human bacterial pathogens in manure amended agricultural soils. The eco friendly strategy disrupts the communication systems that bacteria use to coordinate harmful activities.
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NewsNew global guidelines streamline environmental microbiome research
A team of nearly 250 researchers from 28 countries has developed a new set of reporting guidelines for environmental microbiomes called STREAMS. The guidelines are organized by the structure of a scientific manuscript and help ensure that important details aren’t overlooked.
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NewsCan a synthetic compound help plants recruit beneficial bacteria?
Researchers examining how a DMA analog called proline-2’-deoxymugineic acid (PDMA) influences the rhizosphere microbiome of peanut plants found that PDMA increased the abundance of beneficial microbes, particularly those within the phylum Actinobacteria.
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NewsAcid rain may be training soil bacteria to become more deadly
Acid rain from fossil fuel pollution may be quietly training soil bacteria to become longer-lived, more transmissible, and more deadly, according to a new study that tracks how a notorious foodborne pathogen rapidly evolved under simulated acid deposition.
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NewsMichigan cherry farmers find a surprising food safety ally: falcons
By shooing cherry-pecking birds away, kestrels also keep them from contaminating crops with their droppings, a new study shows. Kestrels were associated with a 3-fold reduction in droppings spotted on branches.
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NewsNew Arkansas Clean Plant Center partnership to boost Indian agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture has entered a five-year agreement with the Indian National Horticulture Board and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to help farmers in India improve agricultural production by limiting spread of pathogens.
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NewsNew super pest combines broad spectrum of microbes
Researchers investigating what role the reed leafhopper’s microbial flora might have played in its rapid spread as a pest found it hosts at least seven species of bacteria and appears to be completely dependent on three of these species, which inhabit specific organs.
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NewsSoil carbon decomposition varies vastly, holding implications for climate models
A new study shows that even under uniform laboratory conditions, the rate of organic carbon decomposition in soil samples collected across the U.S. differed by up to tenfold, in part due to variations in soil mineral and microbial properties.
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NewsMicrobial nano-selenium breakthrough boosts tea quality and safety
Scientists developing selenium-enriched tea have identified a powerful selenium-reducing bacterium, Raoultella ornithinolytica S-1, capable of converting inorganic selenium into selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) while simultaneously promoting plant growth.
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NewsLivestock manure linked to the rapid spread of hidden antibiotic resistance threats in farmland soils
Scientists have uncovered how even “low-risk” organic fertilizers like dried poultry manure can inadvertently drive a dramatic surge in dangerous antibiotic resistance genes, once released into vegetable plots used for food crops.
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NewsFlower to fruit: tracking the changing fungal community on blueberry plants
A study identifies how fungal diversity changes over time and across tissue types in highbush blueberry, revealing dynamic transitions in the phyllosphere from buds to ripe fruits. Early-season buds and flowers harbor the highest fungal diversity, while unripe green fruits display the lowest.
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NewsResearchers identify mangrove tree stems as previously underestimated methane source offsetting blue carbon benefits
A new study reveals that mangrove tree stems represent a significant yet previously underestimated source of methane. Additionally, stem emissions showed a strong correlation with soil methane fluxes, indicating that methane produced by anaerobic microbial activity in mangrove soils is transported upward through specialized aerenchyma tissues within the trees.
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NewsBacterial scents behind oak tree decline may be luring deadly beetles
The deadly decline of Britain’s native oak trees may be driven by an unexpected accomplice: their own smell. Scientists have discovered that trees affected by Acute Oak Decline (AOD) emit distinct odours that are highly attractive to the beetle Agrilus biguttatus, a key contributor to the decline.
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NewsNew study reveals microbial network restructuring mitigates long-term soil carbon emissions from warming
Scientists conducted a decade-long study that uncovered a previously unrecognized buffering mechanism in subtropical forest soils mitigating the effects of climate warming.
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NewsFungal oxalic acid dampens plant immunity through targeting CERK1 deamidation
Scientists found that oxalic acid was a critical virulence factor for both S. sclerotiorum and B. cinerea during their infections of Arabidopsis plants. Further characterizations revealed that OA-mediated virulence in these fungal pathogens was contingent on CERK1.
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NewsArctic plant–fungal partnerships are surprisingly flexible in a warming world
A new study suggests that Arctic fungi appear to form opportunistic partnerships with whatever plant hosts are available, rather than maintaining exclusive relationships. This flexibility may help both plants and fungi cope with rapid environmental change.
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NewsAdvanced imaging reveals new fungus species in 407-million-year-old plant fossil from Scotland
Researchers have identified a new species of ancient symbiotic fungus preserved within a 407-million-year-old plant fossil from Scotland. The discovery provides unprecedented three-dimensional insight into one of the earliest known plant–fungus partnerships.
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NewsWild grass offers new genetic clues to combat deadliest pathogen of wheat
A new study has identified Aegilops cylindrica, a wild grass closely related to wheat, as a powerful genetic reservoir for resistance against the devastating fungal pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici—the cause of Septoria tritici blotch (STB).
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NewsGrassland degradation reshapes relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality
Grassland degradation fundamentally reshapes how biodiversity supports ecosystem multifunctionality, shifting it from being plant-dominated to being mediated by soil microbes, according to a new study of alpine grassland on the Tibetan Plateau.