Browsing by Person "Schloter, Michael"

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Microbial inoculants modulate the rhizosphere microbiome, alleviate plant stress responses, and enhance maize growth at field scale
(2025) Francioli, Davide; Kampouris, Ioannis D.; Kuhl-Nagel, Theresa; Babin, Doreen; Sommermann, Loreen; Behr, Jan H.; Chowdhury, Soumitra Paul; Zrenner, Rita; Moradtalab, Narges; Schloter, Michael; Geistlinger, Joerg; Ludewig, Uwe; Neumann, Günter; Smalla, Kornelia; Grosch, Rita
Background: Field inoculation of crops with beneficial microbes is a promising sustainable strategy to enhance plant fitness and nutrient acquisition. However, effectiveness can vary due to environmental factors, microbial competition, and methodological challenges, while their precise modes of action remain uncertain. This underscores the need for further research to optimize inoculation strategies for consistent agricultural benefits. Results: Using a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach, we investigate the effects of a consortium of beneficial microbes (BMc) ( Pseudomonas sp. RU47, Bacillus atrophaeus ABi03, Trichoderma harzianum OMG16) on maize ( Zea mays cv. Benedictio) through an inoculation experiment conducted within a long-term field trial across intensive and extensive farming practices. Additionally, an unexpected early drought stress emerged as a climatic variable, offering further insight into the effectiveness of the microbial consortium. Our findings demonstrate that BMc root inoculation primarily enhanced plant growth and fitness, particularly by increasing iron uptake, which is crucial for drought adaptation. Inoculated maize plants show improved shoot growth and fitness compared to non-inoculated plants, regardless of farming practices. Specifically, BMc modulate plant hormonal balance, enhance the detoxification of reactive oxygen species, and increase root exudation of iron-chelating metabolites. Amplicon sequencing reveals shifts in rhizosphere bacterial and fungal communities mediated by the consortium. Metagenomic shotgun sequencing indicates enrichment of genes related to antimicrobial lipopeptides and siderophores. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the multifaceted benefits of BMc inoculation on plant fitness, significantly influencing metabolism, stress responses, and the rhizosphere microbiome. These improvements are crucial for advancing sustainable agricultural practices by enhancing plant resilience and productivity.
Plant–soil relationships diminish under major versus moderate climate change in subalpine grasslands
(2025) Terry, Tyson J.; Wilfahrt, Peter; Andrade‐Linares, Diana R.; Abdalla, Khatab; Berauer, Bernd J.; Dannenmann, Michael; Garcia‐Franco, Noelia; Han, Jincheng; von Hessberg, Andreas; Ramm, Elisabeth; Kiese, Ralf; Kögel‐Knabner, Ingrid; Niu, Yujie; Schloter, Michael; Schulz, Stefanie; Wiesmeier, Martin; Jentsch, Anke; Terry, Tyson J.; Disturbance Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, Bayreuth University, Bayreuth, Germany; Wilfahrt, Peter; Disturbance Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, Bayreuth University, Bayreuth, Germany; Andrade‐Linares, Diana R.; Environmental Microbiology Research Group‐ EMRG, Biological Sciences Department, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Abdalla, Khatab; Agroecology, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, Bayreuth University, Bayreuth, Germany; Berauer, Bernd J.; Plant Ecology, Institute of Landscape and Plant Ecology University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Dannenmann, Michael; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK‐IFU), Garmisch‐Partenkirchen, Germany; Garcia‐Franco, Noelia; Soil Science, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany; Han, Jincheng; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK‐IFU), Garmisch‐Partenkirchen, Germany; von Hessberg, Andreas; Disturbance Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, Bayreuth University, Bayreuth, Germany; Ramm, Elisabeth; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK‐IFU), Garmisch‐Partenkirchen, Germany; Kiese, Ralf; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK‐IFU), Garmisch‐Partenkirchen, Germany; Kögel‐Knabner, Ingrid; Soil Science, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany; Niu, Yujie; Disturbance Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, Bayreuth University, Bayreuth, Germany; Schloter, Michael; Environmental Microbiology Research Group‐ EMRG, Biological Sciences Department, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Schulz, Stefanie; Environmental Microbiology Research Group‐ EMRG, Biological Sciences Department, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Wiesmeier, Martin; Soil Science, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany; Jentsch, Anke; Disturbance Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, Bayreuth University, Bayreuth, Germany
Plant communities and soil microbial communities influence each other directly and indirectly via the resource pools they modify. Despite apparent sensitivities of plants and microbes to climate, little is known concerning how climate change will affect plant–soil relationships. We conducted a downslope translocation of intact soil–plant mesocosms in subalpine grasslands to mid‐ and low‐elevation sites to determine how climate change (warmer and drier conditions) influences plant–soil relationships. While soil nutrient pools and microbial composition were key determinants of plant community characteristics under control and moderate climate change (+1°C, +8 days growing season), these relationships diminished under major climate change (+3°C, +21 days growing season). Positive correlations of fungi and nitrogen‐fixing bacteria for plant growth emerged under moderate climate change and diminished under major climate change. Our findings indicate that climate change effects do not solely impact plant community metrics, soil nutrient pools, and soil microbial community composition, but also a breakdown in the ecological coupling among them. We found evidence of threshold‐like behavior for plant–soil relationships in response to major versus moderate environmental change and that plant community metrics and soil microbial dynamics may become more independent in subalpine grasslands following environmental shifts that accompany climate change.
A slow-fast trait continuum at the whole community level in relation to land-use intensification
(2024) Neyret, Margot; Le Provost, Gaëtane; Boesing, Andrea Larissa; Schneider, Florian D.; Baulechner, Dennis; Bergmann, Joana; de Vries, Franciska T.; Fiore-Donno, Anna Maria; Geisen, Stefan; Goldmann, Kezia; Merges, Anna; Saifutdinov, Ruslan A.; Simons, Nadja K.; Tobias, Joseph A.; Zaitsev, Andrey S.; Gossner, Martin M.; Jung, Kirsten; Kandeler, Ellen; Krauss, Jochen; Penone, Caterina; Schloter, Michael; Schulz, Stefanie; Staab, Michael; Wolters, Volkmar; Apostolakis, Antonios; Birkhofer, Klaus; Boch, Steffen; Boeddinghaus, Runa S.; Bolliger, Ralph; Bonkowski, Michael; Buscot, François; Dumack, Kenneth; Fischer, Markus; Gan, Huei Ying; Heinze, Johannes; Hölzel, Norbert; John, Katharina; Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Marhan, Sven; Müller, Jörg; Renner, Swen C.; Rillig, Matthias C.; Schenk, Noëlle V.; Schöning, Ingo; Schrumpf, Marion; Seibold, Sebastian; Socher, Stephanie A.; Solly, Emily F.; Teuscher, Miriam; van Kleunen, Mark; Wubet, Tesfaye; Manning, Peter
Organismal functional strategies form a continuum from slow- to fast-growing organisms, in response to common drivers such as resource availability and disturbance. However, whether there is synchronisation of these strategies at the entire community level is unclear. Here, we combine trait data for >2800 above- and belowground taxa from 14 trophic guilds spanning a disturbance and resource availability gradient in German grasslands. The results indicate that most guilds consistently respond to these drivers through both direct and trophically mediated effects, resulting in a ‘slow-fast’ axis at the level of the entire community. Using 15 indicators of carbon and nutrient fluxes, biomass production and decomposition, we also show that fast trait communities are associated with faster rates of ecosystem functioning. These findings demonstrate that ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ strategies can be manifested at the level of whole communities, opening new avenues of ecosystem-level functional classification.
Soil water status shapes nutrient cycling in agroecosystems from micrometer to landscape scales
(2022) Bauke, Sara L.; Amelung, Wulf; Bol, Roland; Brandt, Luise; Brüggemann, Nicolas; Kandeler, Ellen; Meyer, Nele; Or, Dani; Schnepf, Andrea; Schloter, Michael; Schulz, Stefanie; Siebers, Nina; von Sperber, Christian; Vereecken, Harry
Soil water status, which refers to the wetness or dryness of soils, is crucial for the productivity of agroecosystems, as it determines nutrient cycling and uptake physically via transport, biologically via the moisture‐dependent activity of soil flora, fauna, and plants, and chemically via specific hydrolyses and redox reactions. Here, we focus on the dynamics of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S) and review how soil water is coupled to the cycling of these elements and related stoichiometric controls across different scales within agroecosystems. These scales span processes at the molecular level, where nutrients and water are consumed, to processes in the soil pore system, within a soil profile and across the landscape. We highlight that with increasing mobility of the nutrients in water, water‐based nutrient flux may alleviate or even exacerbate imbalances in nutrient supply within soils, for example, by transport of mobile nutrients towards previously depleted microsites (alleviating imbalances), or by selective loss of mobile nutrients from microsites (increasing imbalances). These imbalances can be modulated by biological activity, especially by fungal hyphae and roots, which contribute to nutrient redistribution within soils, and which are themselves dependent on specific, optimal water availability. At larger scales, such small‐scale effects converge with nutrient inputs from atmospheric (wet deposition) or nonlocal sources and with nutrient losses from the soil system towards aquifers. Hence, water acts as a major control in nutrient cycling across scales in agroecosystems and may either exacerbate or remove spatial disparities in the availability of the individual nutrients (N, P, S) required for biological activity.