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Soil microbiology is the scientific discipline that is concerned with the study of all biological aspects of the microorganisms (bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, parasites and protozoa) that exist in the soil environment. This is a subdiscipline of environmental microbiology.
Root-associated microbiota confers benefits to plant in responding to environmental stress. Here, the authors show that wild soybean secretes purines under salt stress, reshapes the microbiota and recruits Pseudomonas.
Carbohydrate binding modules (CBMs) are non-catalytic domains found within multi-modular carbohydrate-active enzymes like glycoside hydrolases. Here, the authors show the crystal structures of two CBM family 92 members, which use three different surface binding sites to bind to β-glucans.
Prompt physiological reactivation after rainfall pulses may be key for microbial survival in arid ecosystems. Here, the authors use stable isotope tracers, single-cell NanoSIMS and metatranscriptomics to shed light on how desert biocrust microbial communities respond to rewetting.
Diverse bacteria can use the low levels of hydrogen and carbon monoxide present in the air as energy sources for growth and survival. Here, Leung et al. show that ability is also found in thermophilic archaea of the order Sulfolobales.
Decomposer microbiomes are universal across cadavers regardless of environmental conditions, and they use complex cross-feeding and interkingdom interactions to break down organic matter.
In this study, Liu et al. demonstrate that the T7SS of the rhizobacterium Bacillus velezensis SQR9 and its effector protein YukE cause iron leakage in plant roots to support root colonization.