All Soil & Plant Science articles – Page 2
-
NewsSelf-renewing bacteria offer new hope for heavy metal cleanup
Scientists have revealed a powerful bacterial defense strategy against Cd toxicity. The team found that Stenotrophomonas sp. H225 sheds Cd-laden cell wall fragments and rebuilds new protective layers through a process involving the mtgA gene.
-
NewsThawing Arctic soil awakens only half of soil microbes, new study reveals
A study shows that even after months of thawing, around half of the microorganisms in High Arctic soils remain dormant. This challenges the assumption that warming uniformly boosts microbial activity and carbon release from thawing permafrost.
-
NewsIron minerals help decide whether dissolved organic matter becomes microbial food or long-term carbon
A new study shows how iron oxide minerals can reshape dissolved organic matter before microbes begin to break it down. The research focuses on goethite, and reveals that mineral adsorption does not simply remove organic matter from water.
-
NewsHow soil bacteria help plants defend themselves against disease
A study reveals the mechanism by which surfactin, a molecule produced by beneficial soil bacteria, activates plants’ immune defences. This mechanism, distinct from the classical paradigm of immune recognition, relies on direct interaction with the plant cell membrane.
-
NewsBoyce Thompson Institute names Dr. Natalie Hoffmann inaugural Jane Silverthorne Postdoctoral Fellow
How do beneficial fungi grow into and through plant cells without destroying them in the process? That question sits at the center of Dr. Natalie Hoffmann’s research – and it’s what earned her the inaugural Jane Silverthorne Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI).
-
News‘Not just hot water’: marine heatwaves can create toxic relationship between seagrasses and microbes
Heat stress from marine heatwaves can create a toxic relationship between seagrasses and a hidden ecosystem of bacteria, transforming a previously beneficial co-existence between marine plants and microbes into a harmful one, a study has found.
-
NewsDNA analyses uncover what is hiding under the cap plaguing the white button mushroom industry
Researchers have uncovered that bacterial blotch is not caused by a single disease-causing bacteria or pathogen as originally learned, but by a complex of pathogenic bacterial species that thrive in the indoor controlled, humid environments where they are grown.
-
NewsFungi utilize ancient antimicrobial proteins to attack hosts and their microbiomes
An international research team has discovered the surprising evolutionary origin of fungal effector proteins: molecules that pathogens use today to infect their hosts appear to have evolved from ancient antimicrobial proteins.
-
NewsNovel wheat hybrids increase resistance to major fungal disease by up to 70%
A new experimental study has identified a novel genetic locus in a common agricultural weed that provides significant resistance to Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) and has now been successfully transferred into wheat to produce FHB resistant hybrids.
-
NewsAncient, insect-targeting bacterial toxin may have implications for human health, agriculture, and drug discovery
Scientists have identified and characterized a new class of Streptomyces-produced toxins that are very distantly related to the deadly toxin that causes diphtheria, a serious and contagious infection, in humans.
-
NewsHow does oligochitosan induce plant resistance against potato virus Y?
Plant immune inducers are crucial tools for the green management of crop diseases. As an environmentally friendly biological inducer, oligochitosan (COS) can activate plant defense mechanisms to resist pathogens such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Source: Florida Division of Plant Industry , Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer ...
-
NewsCan rhizobacterial metabolites enhance plant drought tolerance?
A study shows that lettuce plants inoculated with PGPR strains exhibited significantly higher survival rates and better fresh weight recovery after drought stress compared to the uninoculated control group.
-
NewsTracking a persistent threat: How antibiotic-resistant bacteria travel from poultry farms to fresh produce
A new study develops an integrated quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) model to trace the pathway of ESBL-producing E. coli from broiler farms to lettuce consumption, quantifying human health risks and identifying effective intervention strategies.
-
NewsHow bacteria circumvent plants’ immune system
In order to defend themselves, plants have to quickly produce proteins that detect and combat infiltrating microbes. Researchers discovered that Pseudomonas syringae disrupts this process by triggering the formation of P-bodies – small, droplet-like structures in the cell that store and regulate RNA molecules.
-
NewsDecades-long study finds ‘stable’ soil carbon degrades
After nearly four decades, the world’s longest-running soil warming experiment is revealing a surprising result: even ‘stable’ carbon in forest soils can break down as temperatures rise, releasing more CO₂ into the atmosphere.
-
NewsStick-on gel offers new way to treat and monitor plants
Scientists have developed an adhesive gel that can be loaded with substances, such as small molecule drugs or nanoparticles, and applied directly onto a plant to deliver those materials into its tissues. In tests, a gel loaded with antibiotics cleared a bacterial infection in a plant within about 48 hours.
-
NewsHemp waste biocomposites offer a lower-carbon alternative for packaging and agricultural films
A new study explores how hemp hurd can be converted into microfiber-based biocomposites for packaging films and agricultural mulch films, and shows anaerobic digestion delivers the best environmental outcome for hemp hurd-based bioplastic systems.
-
NewsAutomation platform enables high-resolution spatial mapping of microbial communities
Researchers have developed a sequential error-robust FISH spatial mapping platform (SEER-Map) which enables fully automated, high-multiplexity spatial profiling of complex microbial communities at single-cell resolution.
-
NewsDrip-irrigated halotolerant PGPB boost jujube yield and quality in saline soils by reshaping soil bacterial communities
A new study demonstrates that applying halotolerant plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) via drip irrigation during the crop growth period can effectively alleviate soil salinity stress, enhance jujube productivity and fruit quality, and restructure rhizosphere bacterial communities in saline agricultural soils.
-
NewsRare orchid Paphiopedilum purpuratum mediates adaptation via a dual-fungal strategy
Paphiopedilum purpuratum, an endangered orchid species with critical conservation value, faces severe challenges in ex situ adaptation despite successful reproductive output. A novel study reveals the integrated physiological and symbiotic adaptation mechanism underlying its ex situ conservation.