Project description:Background: The soil environment is responsible for sustaining most terrestrial plant life on earth, yet we know surprisingly little about the important functions carried out by diverse microbial communities in soil. Soil microbes that inhabit the channels of decaying root systems, the detritusphere, are likely to be essential for plant growth and health, as these channels are the preferred locations of new root growth. Understanding the microbial metagenome of the detritusphere and how it responds to agricultural management such as crop rotations and soil tillage will be vital for improving global food production. Methods: The rhizosphere soils of wheat and chickpea growing under + and - decaying root were collected for metagenomics sequencing. A gene catalogue was established by de novo assembling metagenomic sequencing. Genes abundance was compared between bulk soil and rhizosphere soils under different treatments. Conclusions: The study describes the diversity and functional capacity of a high-quality soil microbial metagenome. The results demonstrate the contribution of the microbiome from decaying root in determining the metagenome of developing root systems, which is fundamental to plant growth, since roots preferentially inhabit previous root channels. Modifications in root microbial function through soil management, can ultimately govern plant health, productivity and food security.
Project description:The leaf transcriptome of the nickel hyperaccumulator species Homalium kanaliense (Salicaceae) endemic from New caledonia were compared to the closely related non-accumulator Homalium betulifolium, living on Gallery forest or maquis on serpentine soil, to identity differentially expressed genes potentially involved in Ni hyperaccumulation.
Project description:The leaf transcriptome of the nickel hyperaccumulator Psychotria gabriellae (Rubiaceae) endemic from New Caledonia was compared to the closely related non-accumulator Psychotria semperflorens, living in sympatry with P. gabriellae in rain forest on serpentine soil, to identity differentially expressed genes potentially involved in Ni hyperaccumulation.
