Project description:In order to get insights into the ability of ectomycorrhizal fungi to perceive their biotic environment as well as into the mechanisms of the interactions between ectomycorrhizal fungi and soil bacteria, we analysed the transcriptomic response of the ectomycorrhizal fungus L. bicolor and of two beneficial, and neutral soil bacteria during their interactions in vitro.
Project description:Desert microbial communities live in a pulsed ecosystem shaped by isolated and rare precipitation events. The Namib desert is one of the oldest continuously hyperarid ecosystems on Earth. In this study, surface microbial communities of open soils (without sheltering features like rocks, vegetation or biological soil crusts) are analysed. We designed an artificial rainfall experiment where a 7x7 (3.5 x 3.5 m) plot remained dry while an adjacent one received a 30 mm simulated rain. Samples were taken randomly in parallel from both plots at 10 min, 1 h, 3 h, 7 h, 24 h and 7 days after the watering moment. Duplicate libraries were generated from total (rRNA depleted) RNA and sequenced 2x150 bp in an Illumina Hiseq 4000 instrument.
Project description:Some soil bacteria promote plant growth, including Pseudomonas species. With this approach we detected significant changes in Arabidopsis genes related to primary metabolism that were induced by the bacteria.