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Work Package 5. Quantify the critical role of the rhizosphere and its microflora and fauna on plant productivity through their influence on disease expression and suppression, and nutrient availability.

 

PI: Brian Kerry

 

 

 

Key hypothesis: Interactions between bacteria, fungi, nematodes and the plant and the physical environment in the rhizosphere can be managed to improve nutrient cycling and pest and disease suppression and thus soil quality, enabling the reliable prediction of soil processes.

Key targets:

  • To identify key microbial groups that affect C and N cycling in the rhizosphere.
  • To manipulate plant parasitic nematode interactions in the rhizosphere through chemical or genetic interventions to provide more sustainable opportunities for their management.
  • To quantify the effect of matric potential on pore scale pH.
  • To establish the key factors that affect the predictable management of the rhizosphere to maximise the beneficial effects of the microbial community to sustain root health and plant nutrition.

This WP explores the complex system of the rhizosphere and the extent to which it, rather than the bulk soil determines sustainable soil function. It has two key components: (1) the development and application of molecular and other methods to explore the rhizosphere microbial community and its role in nutrient cycling, disease suppression and soil structure and function; (2) the understanding of soil factors affecting root activity and plant productivity with especial reference to microbes, nematodes and abiotic stresses. Uplift funding will be sought to study above and below-ground interactions in selected ecosystems in conjunction with WP1 and to examine the impacts of the allocation of resources in plants, especially those developed as bioenergy crops, on processes in the rhizosphere. The information generated will lead to optimised approaches to plant nutrition and to sustainable methods of management of plant parasitic nematodes and some root diseases, which include the most intractable problems in crop protection. Hence, methods for improving soil health will be developed.

The WP has 3 key components:

  1. The rhizosphere and its role in nutrient cycling and disease suppression.
  2. Host-recognition processes in nematodes: host signals that affect nematode behaviour in the rhizosphere and root invasion.
  3. Interactions between nematodes and microorganisms in the rhizosphere: opportunities for biological control.

 

 

 

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