Stable carbon isotopes are used extensively to partition total soil CO2 efflux into root-derived rhizosphere respiration or autotrophic respiration and soil-derived heterotrophic respiration. However, it remains unclear whether CO2 from rhizosphere respiration has the same δC value as root biomass. Here we investigated the magnitude of C isotope fractionation during rhizosphere respiration rela...

Proper quantification of the relative influence of soil and plant host on the root-associated microbiome can only be achieved by studying its distribution along an environmental gradient. Here, we used an undisturbed salt marsh chronosequence to study the bacterial communities associated with the soil, rhizosphere and the root endopshere of Limonium vulgare using 454-pyrosequencing. We hypothes...

Plant and soil properties cooperatively structure soil microbial communities, with implications for ecosystem functioning. However, the extent to which each factor contributes to community structuring is not fully understood. To quantify the influence of plants and soil properties on microbial diversity and composition in an agricultural context, we conducted an experiment within a corn-based a...

This study assessed the concentrations of three falcarinol-type polyacetylenes (falcarinol, falcarindiol, falcarindiol-3-acetate) in carrots and the correlations between these and different soil traits. A total of 144 carrot samples, from three different harvests taken a single season, were analysed in terms of their polyacetylene concentrations and root development. On one of the harvesting oc...

Recently discovered As-hyperaccumulator ferns hold promise for phytoremediation of As-polluted soils. We investigated changes in the rhizosphere characteristics of Pteris vittata (Chinese Brake fern) relevant for its use in phytoextraction. Plants were grown in rhizoboxes filled with soil containing 2270 mg kg(-1) As. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in rhizosphere soil solution we...

Soil productivity and plant growth are usually affected by biological activities of earthworms. The objective of this study was a comparative evaluation of earthworm abundances in 20-year-old plantations of Alder, Oak, Maple and Cypress with the adjacent natural mixed broad-leaved deciduous forest in the Caspian region of Iran. In this research one sample plot, each 1 ha; was selected in every ...

Soils and soil-borne microbial communities are probably the greatest source of organismal diversity on Earth. In this soil matrix, plant roots and the soil impacted by those roots – the rhizosphere – host a great diversity of fungi. Fungal community composition in soil and rhizosphere has been assessed by growing fungi from environmental samples in different pure culture media. These studies ha...