Plant Functional Traits Define Microbial Response to Nutrient Availability in Tropical Rainforest Soil.

High global inputs of nitrogen (N) compared with relatively low inputs of phosphorus (P) increase nutrient imbalances that may cause substantial shifts in plant functional traits and modulate resource utilization strategies, which are associated with soil microbial communities. These community-level trait-based adaptations and the responses of soil microbiomes to the projected nutrient changes remain largely unexplored. Here, we characterized the nutrient-induced shifts in plant functional traits and microbial communities in P-limited tropical rainforest soils by combining spatial multivariate analyses across 160 km of primary and secondary tropical rainforest with an in situ 14-year nutrient addition experiment.

Phosphorus acquisition and pathogen defense: synergies versus trade-offs.

During their life cycle, plants encounter simultaneous biotic and abiotic stresses. A low availability of inorganic phosphorus (P) commonly limits plant growth in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Pathogen attacks pose risks to plant productivity and biodiversity, causing yield loss and ecosystem degradation.

Do rhizosphere microbiomes match root functional traits?

Land plants and microorganisms have developed intricate partnerships during millions of years of coevolution. However, it remains largely unknown how rhizosphere microbiomes align with diverse root functional traits among and within species. We argue that deciphering the bidirectional interactions of root traits with microbial partners is pivotal for understanding rhizosphere processes and belowground ecosystem functioning.

Nutrient enrichment and plant diversity loss: belowground multitrophic interactions.

Human-induced nutrient enrichment impacts negatively on plant diversity in terrestrial ecosystems. The decline in plant diversity under nutrient enrichment primarily results from species-specific responses and their interactions, which subsequently drive their survival or loss within the community. We synthesize the effects of nutrient enrichment on biotic responses and interactions between plants and their neighbors as well as other organisms.

Leaf economic strategies drive global variation in phosphorus stimulation of terrestrial plant production.

Plant biomass and its allocation are fundamental for understanding biospheric matter production. However, the impacts of atmospheric phosphorus (P) deposition on species-specific biomass and its allocation in global terrestrial plants remain unclear. By synthesizing 5548 observations of plant biomass and its allocation related to P addition worldwide, we find that P addition increases plant biomass by an average of 35% globally.

Nutrient availability drives the ecological linkage between microbial functional diversity and soil organic matter molecular complexity during forest restoration.

Forest restoration facilitates soil organic carbon (SOC) preservation, a process that is fundamentally governed by the molecular complexity of soil organic matter (SOMMC) and its dynamic interaction with microorganisms. Yet, the changes in SOMMC and its ecological linkages with microbial communities, and the mechanisms driving these relationships during forest restoration remain poorly understood. To fill this knowledge gap, we collected O- and A-horizon soil samples across two independent restoration chronosequences in tropical forests and applied thermally-assisted hydrolysis and methylation coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (THM-GC-MS) for molecular-level SOMMC characterization and high-throughput sequencing for microbial community profiling.

Leaf manganese concentrations reveal phosphorus-mining strategies and trait diversification of Myrtaceae in south-eastern Australia.

Background And Aims: Phosphorus (P)-impoverished soils shape plant adaptation in biodiverse ecosystems worldwide, from Australian heathlands to Amazonian rainforests to southern China's karst regions. While non-mycorrhizal lineages like Proteaceae and Cyperaceae use carboxylate exudation that mobilise P, and are celebrated for such strategies, the mechanisms allowing mycorrhizal Myrtaceae-especially eucalypts-to thrive in these soils without fungal assistance remain unclear. Given Myrtaceae's dominance in P-impoverished Australian ecosystems, a key question arises: How do mycorrhizal plants succeed in P-impoverished environments without relying on fungal symbiosis? We challenge the paradigm that carboxylate-driven P acquisition is exclusive to non-mycorrhizal species.

Harnessing the rhizosheath for resilient crop production.

Crops are increasingly exposed to drought and nutrient deficiencies, necessitating enhanced resistance to adverse conditions to meet the growing demands of the global population. While crop productivity has been greatly improved by integrating traits for high yield and stress tolerance through breeding, yield plateaus are now being observed. The rhizosheath, with physical and biological properties distinct from bulk soil, presents a promising target for enhanced tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought and nutrient deficiencies.

Long-Term Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition Enhances Forest Production by Suppressing Microbial Competition for Phosphorus.

Ecological stoichiometry theory predicts that prolonged nitrogen (N) deposition exacerbates phosphorus (P) limitation in terrestrial primary production. However, this hypothesis remains untested using canopy N addition (CN) experiments that consider critical canopy processes. In a 10-year CN and understory N addition (UN) experiment in P limited subtropical forests, CN unexpectedly increased plant biomass and P uptake while reducing soil microbial P, alleviating plant P limitation.

Deciphering the variability of leaf phosphorus-allocation strategies using leaf economic traits and reflectance spectroscopy across diverse forest types.

Allocation of leaf phosphorus (P) among different functional fractions represents a crucial adaptive strategy for optimizing P use. However, it remains challenging to monitor the variability in leaf P fractions and, ultimately, to understand P-use strategies across diverse plant communities. We explored relationships between five leaf P fractions (orthophosphate P, P; lipid P, P; nucleic acid P, P; metabolite P, P; and residual P, P) and 11 leaf economic traits of 58 woody species from three biomes in China, including temperate, subtropical and tropical forests.

Wild Cicer species exhibit superior leaf photosynthetic phosphorus- and water-use efficiencies compared with cultivated chickpea under low-phosphorus conditions.

Domesticated chickpea cultivars exhibit limited genetic diversity. This study evaluated the effects of chickpea domestication on phosphorus (P)-use efficiency (PUE) under low-P conditions, using a diverse Cicer collection, including wild species. Two wild Cicer species - 54 C.

Optimising Peanut Growth: Exogenous Calcium Enhances Photosynthesis in Phosphorus-Limited Environments.

The study aimed to enhance peanut growth in phosphorus (P)-limited environments through exogenous calcium (Ca), exploring underlying mechanisms. Foliar application of calcium ions (Ca) and calmodulin (CaM) inhibitor (trifluoperazine, TFP) effects were investigated under P deficiency in a climate chamber. Parameters assessed included growth, biomass, nutrient accumulation, leaf expansion, carbohydrate metabolism, chlorophyll concentration, gas exchange, photosynthetic P-use efficiency (PPUE), chlorophyll fluorescence, and P700 redox state.

Latitudinal Variation of Leaf Phosphorus Fractions Provides Physiological Insights Into Plant Phosphorus-Use Strategy at Large Scales.

Three major hypotheses aim to explain latitudinal trends of leaf phosphorus (P) concentration: the Temperature-Plant Physiological Hypothesis (TPH), Soil-Nutrient Hypothesis (SNH) and Evergreen-Deciduous Hypothesis (EDH). However, these hypotheses only address leaf total P, preventing a deeper insight into the underlying physiological mechanisms. We extended these hypotheses to include variations in leaf P fractions with different physiological functions (extended TPH, SNH and EDH, respectively).

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Promote Nodulation and N Fixation in Soybean by Specific Root Exudates.

Legume plants commonly associate with both arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and rhizobia and thus enhance the acquisition of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) nutrition. Inoculation with AM fungi can promote nodulation and N fixation of legume plants; however, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, root exudates collected from AM-colonised soybean plants showed greater accumulation of the specific flavonoids (daidzein and genistein) and phenolic acids (benzoic acid and p-Hydroxybenzoic acid), and significantly promoted nodulation.

Supplementary Calcium Overcomes Nocturnal Chilling-Induced Carbon Source-Sink Limitations of Cyclic Electron Transport in Peanuts.

'Calcium (Ca) priming' is an effective strategy to restore efficient carbon assimilation with undergoing unfavourable cold stress (day/night: 25°C/8°C). However, it is unclear how exogenous calcium strengthens the cyclic electron transfer (CET) to attain optimal carbon flux. To assess the nutrient fortification role of Ca (15 mM) in facilitating this process for peanuts, we added antimycin (AA, 100 μM) and rotenone (R, 100 μM) as specific inhibitors.

HalALMT1 mediates malate efflux in the cortex of mature cluster rootlets of Hakea laurina, occurring naturally in severely phosphorus-impoverished soil.

Hakea laurina, a woody Proteaceae, naturally occurs in severely phosphorus (P)-impoverished habitats in southwest Australia. It develops distinctive cluster roots that exhibit a high capacity for carboxylate exudation and acid phosphatase activity, contributing to its P acquisition. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these physiological functions remain poorly understood.

Nutrient resorption of leaves and roots coordinates with root nutrient-acquisition strategies in a temperate forest.

Nutrient acquisition, conservation and recycling are three mechanisms for plants to meet their nutritional requirements. However, how nutrient recycling relates to other mechanisms remains unknown. Here, we hypothesize that nutrient resorption processes are coordinated with plant nutrient-acquisition strategies.

Patterns in coarse root decomposition of woody plants: effects of climate, root quality, mycorrhizal associations and phylogeny.

Coarse roots represent a globally important belowground carbon pool, but the factors controlling coarse root decomposition rates remain poorly understood relative to other plant biomass components. We compiled the most comprehensive dataset of coarse root decomposition data including 148 observations from 60 woody species, and linked coarse root decomposition rates to plant traits, phylogeny and climate to address questions of the dominant controls on coarse root decomposition. We found that decomposition rates increased with mean annual temperature, root nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations.

Biochar application improves maize yield on the Loess Plateau of China by changing soil pore structure and enhancing root growth.

Biochar application emerges as a valuable soil management strategy for enhancing crop yield; however, the mechanisms underlying the relationships between soil and plants remain unclear after biochar application. In this study, soil pore characteristics and maize yield were assessed in a five-year biochar-application experiment on the Loess Plateau of China, including four treatments: Control (no biochar), low-dose biochar application (LB, 3 t ha), moderate-dose biochar application (MB, 6 t ha), and high-dose biochar application (HB, 9 t ha). Root growth traits were evaluated by cultivating maize in intact soil cores collected from field conditions using X-ray computed tomography.

The role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in micronutrient homeostasis and cadmium uptake and transfer in rice under different flooding intensities.

Flooding intensity significantly alters the availability of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and cadmium (Cd) in paddy soil. However, the influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the uptake and transfer of Cd and micronutrients (Fe and Zn) under Cd stress in varying flooding conditions is not well understood. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the micronutrient homeostasis and Cd uptake and transfer in rice cultivated in Cd-contaminated soil with AMF inoculation under continuous and intermittent flooding conditions.

Identification and expression analysis of Phosphate Transporter 1 (PHT1) genes in the highly phosphorus-use-efficient Hakea prostrata (Proteaceae).

Heavy and costly use of phosphorus (P) fertiliser is often needed to achieve high crop yields, but only a small amount of applied P fertiliser is available to most crop plants. Hakea prostrata (Proteaceae) is endemic to the P-impoverished landscape of southwest Australia and has several P-saving traits. We identified 16 members of the Phosphate Transporter 1 (PHT1) gene family (HpPHT1;1-HpPHT1;12d) in a long-read genome assembly of H.

Life at the conservative end of the leaf economics spectrum: intergeneric variation in the allocation of phosphorus to biochemical fractions in species of Banksia (Proteaceae) and Hakea (Proteaceae).

In severely phosphorus (P)-impoverished environments, plants have evolved to use P very efficiently. Yet, it is unclear how P allocation in leaves contributes to their photosynthetic P-use efficiency (PPUE) and position along the leaf economics spectrum (LES). We address this question in 10 species of Banksia and Hakea, two highly P-efficient Proteaceae genera.