School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Helmholtz Institute for RNA-Based Infection Research, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Würzburg, Germany.
Sci Prog. 2024 Jul-Sep;107(3):368504241278783. doi: 10.1177/00368504241278783.
Microbial relationships with roots influence many ecosystem functions and nutrient fluxes, including their sometimes-profound effects on plant health and productivity. Fine roots were often classified with a diameter less than 2 mm, but fine roots under that size perform distinct functional roles in the environment. Importantly, two broad functional categories of fine roots are and , with absorptive fine roots acting as metabolic hotspots for root activity. In two of our recent studies, we have shown that several microbial community characteristics differ between absorptive and transportive fine roots, including composition, abundance, and function, as well as the root metabolome. This highlights a growing recognition within microbial ecology that we must consider fine-scale environmental variability, such as root physiology and morphology, when interpreting microbial patterns. In this commentary, we summarize the findings of our latest article, further speculate on some of these patterns, and suggest future studies for examining decomposition and applying cutting-edge single-cell sequencing techniques.
微生物与根系的关系影响着许多生态系统功能和养分通量，包括它们对植物健康和生产力的深远影响。细根通常被定义为直径小于 2 毫米的根，但小于这个尺寸的细根在环境中发挥着截然不同的功能作用。重要的是，细根有两个广泛的功能类别，即 和 ，其中吸收性细根是根系活性的代谢热点。在我们最近的两项研究中，我们已经表明，吸收性和运输性细根之间存在几个微生物群落特征的差异，包括组成、丰度和功能，以及根系代谢组。这凸显了微生物生态学领域的一个共识，即在解释微生物模式时，我们必须考虑到细微的环境变异性，如根系生理学和形态。在这篇评论中，我们总结了我们最新文章的发现，进一步推测了其中的一些模式，并提出了未来研究分解和应用前沿单细胞测序技术的建议。
