Given the widespread presence of Burkholderia cenocepacia in the rhizosphere it is important to determine whether rhizosphere strains are pathogenic for cystic fibrosis patients or not. Eighteen B. cenocepacia strains of rhizosphere and clinical origin were typed by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) analysis and compared for their ability to invade pulmonary epithelial cells and their virulenc...

High bacterial density and diversity near plant roots has been attributed to rhizodeposit compounds that serve as both energy sources and signal molecules. However, it is unclear if and how specific rhizodeposit compounds influence bacterial diversity. We silenced the biosynthesis of isoflavonoids, a major component of soybean rhizodeposits, using RNA interference in hairy-root composite plants...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS In China, excessive fertilization has resulted in phosphorus (P) accumulation in most greenhouse soils. Intercropping can improve the efficiency of nutrient utilization in crop production. In this study, pot experiments were performed to investigate the effects of intercropping with potato onion (Allium cepa L. var. aggregatum G. Don) on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seed...

Paenibacillus pini strain JCM 16418(T) is a cellulolytic bacterium isolated from the rhizosphere of pine trees. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of this strain. This genome information will be useful for studies of rhizosphere bacteria.

Highly diverse communities of bacteria inhabiting soybean rhizospheres play pivotal roles in plant growth and crop production; however, little is known about the changes that occur in these communities during growth. We used both culture-dependent physiological profiling and culture independent DNA-based approaches to characterize the bacterial communities of the soybean rhizosphere during grow...

Understanding the dynamics of water distribution in soil is crucial for enhancing our knowledge of managing soil and water resources. The application of X-ray computed tomography (CT) to the plant and soil sciences is now well established. However, few studies have utilized the technique for visualizing water in soil pore spaces. Here this method is utilized to visualize the water in soil in si...

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...

Pseudomonas putida KT2440 has the ability to colonize the rhizosphere of a wide range of plants and can reach cell densities in the range of 10(5) -10(6) cfu g soil(-1) . Using the IVET technology we investigated which KT2440 genes were expressed in the rhizosphere of four different plants: pine, cypress, evergreen oak and rosemary. We identified 39 different transcriptional fusions containing ...

In sediment-type microbial fuel cells (sMFCs) operating in rice paddy fields, rice-root exudates are converted to electricity by anode-associated rhizosphere microbes. Previous studies have shown that members of the family Geobacteraceae are enriched on the anodes of rhizosphere sMFCs. To deepen our understanding of rhizosphere microbes involved in electricity generation in sMFCs, here, we cond...

The genotypic diversity of antibiotic-producing Pseudomonas spp. provides an enormous resource for identifying strains that are highly rhizosphere competent and superior for biological control of plant diseases. In this study, a simple and rapid method was developed to determine the presence and genotypic diversity of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG)-producing Pseudomonas strains in rhizospher...