Research Topic: community assembly

Repeated measures of decaying wood reveal the success and influence of fungal wood endophytes

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Scientists tracked how fungi and bacteria decompose fallen tree logs over five years in a Minnesota forest. They discovered that fungi living dormant inside healthy wood trees become the dominant decomposers when wood begins to decay, outcompeting fungi arriving from soil and air. Wet, ground-contact conditions and bark coverage changed which fungi dominated, but bacterial communities followed a different pattern, remaining diverse regardless of conditions.

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Microplastic impacts archaeal abundance, microbial communities, and their network connectivity in a Sub-Saharan soil environment

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This study examined how plastic waste that has broken down into tiny microplastics affects soil microorganisms in Kenya. Researchers found that microplastics reduce the number and diversity of helpful archaea (ancient microorganisms important for nitrogen cycling) and disrupt how different microbes interact with each other in soil. While microplastics carried slightly more potentially harmful bacteria, they were much better at spreading dangerous fungi, suggesting plastic waste poses a significant threat to soil health in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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A Fungal Endophyte Alters Poplar Leaf Chemistry, Deters Insect Feeding and Shapes Insect Community Assembly

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A fungus that lives inside poplar trees helps protect them from insects by changing the tree’s chemical makeup and producing its own insect-repelling compound. Scientists found that this endophytic fungus makes poplar leaves taste worse to leaf-eating insects like gypsy moth caterpillars. However, in field conditions, the fungus unexpectedly attracts more aphids while keeping beetles and ants away, showing that endophytes can have complex effects on insect communities depending on the type of insect.

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Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities Alter in Process to Mycorrhizal Developments of a Mixotrophic Pyrola japonica

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This study examines how bacterial communities in soil around plant roots change as fungi develop their associations with a mixotrophic plant called Pyrola japonica. The researchers found that bacterial diversity decreases when fungal colonization is at its peak, and these bacterial communities remain relatively stable even after the fungi begin to degenerate. The bacteria, particularly species from the Rhizobiales and Actinomycetales groups, appear to help support the fungal-plant partnership.

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Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities Alter in Process to Mycorrhizal Developments of a Mixotrophic Pyrola japonica

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This study examined how bacteria living around plant roots change as fungi form partnerships with a plant called Pyrola japonica. Researchers identified three stages of fungal development and found that bacterial communities were most diverse when fungi had not yet colonized roots or when they were degenerating. The findings suggest that fungi help shape and maintain the bacterial communities around roots, creating a beneficial three-way partnership between plants, fungi, and bacteria.

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Ancient Microbiomes as Mirrored by DNA Extracted From Century-Old Herbarium Plants and Associated Soil

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Scientists extracted and analyzed ancient DNA from plant roots and soil samples stored in herbarium collections for over 120 years. The DNA showed typical signs of age and preserved microbial communities that originally lived in the soil around these plants. By comparing these ancient microbial communities to modern ones, researchers found that herbarium storage preserved the original characteristics of soil microbiomes, making these museum specimens valuable for studying how farming practices have changed soil ecosystems over time.

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