Rhizosphere microbes are known to be crucial for addressing major issues related to climate change, global warming, deterioration of soil health, forest degradation, etc. Therefore, understanding the role of microbes in supporting plant growth, multiple ecosystem functions, and overall ecosystem health becomes necessary.
In a study published in Microbiological Research, researchers from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) explored the interactions between plants and rhizosphere microorganisms, with a focus on revealing this communication by understanding the functional gene composition of rhizosphere microorganisms.
They highlighted the importance of rhizosphere microbial ecology and pointed out the key roles of rhizosphere microorganisms in promoting plant growth, enhancing nutrient absorption, alleviating stress, and resisting diseases. Microbial functional genes corresponding to beneficial functions provide a solid foundation for successful establishment of positive plant-microbe interactions. The composition of microbial functional genes in the rhizosphere can be modulated by several factors such as plant nutritional requirements, soil chemical properties, soil nutrient status, pathogen attack, abiotic stresses, etc.
The rhizosphere microbial community brings benefits to plants in several ways through their remarkable ability to adapt to diverse stress conditions.
Exploring these beneficial microbial functions in natural environments may pose challenges as less than 1% of microbes can be cultured in vitro leaving most of the unexplored microbial world.
"Thus, functional gene approaches are useful techniques to delve into this underground microbial world and understand friends or foes of microbe-plant interactions in natural ecosystems,” said YANG Xiaodong of XTBG.
Contact
YANG Xiaodong Principal Investigator
Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China
E-mail: yangxd@xtbg.ac.cn
Published: 16 April 2024
