Soil amendment with biochar is evaluated globally as a means to improve soil fertility and to mitigate climate change. However, the effects of biochar on soil biota have received much less attention than its effects on soil chemical properties. A review of the literature reveals a significant number of early studies on biochar-type materials as soil amendments either for managing pathogens, as inoculant carriers or for manipulative experiments to sorb signaling compounds or toxins. However, no studies exist in the soil biologyliterature that recognize the observed largevariations ofbiochar physico-chemical properties. This shortcoming has hampered insight into mechanisms by which biochar influences soil microorganisms, fauna and plant roots. Additional factors limiting meaningful interpretation of many datasets are the clearly demonstrated sorption properties that interfere with standard extraction procedures for soil microbial biomass or enzyme assays, and the confounding effects of varying amounts of minerals. In most studies, microbial biomass has been found to increase as a result of biochar additions, with significant changes in microbial community composition and enzyme activities that may explain biogeochemical effects of biochar on element cycles, plant pathogens, and crop growth. Yet, very little is known about the mechanisms through which biochar affects microbial abundance and community composition. The effects of biochar on soil fauna are even less understood than its effects on microorganisms, apart from several notable studies on earthworms. It is clear, however, that sorption phenomena, pH and physical properties of biochars such as pore structure, surface area and mineral matter play important roles in determining how different biochars affect soil biota. Observations on microbial dynamics lead to the conclusion of a possible improved resource use due to co-location of various resources in and around biochars. Sorption and therebyinactivation of growth-inhibiting substances likelyplaysa rolefor increased abundance of soil biota. No evidence exists so far for direct negative effects of biochars on plant roots. Occasionally observed decreases in abundance of mycorrhizal fungi are likely caused by concomitant increases in nutrient availability,reducing theneedfor symbionts.Inthe shortterm,therelease ofavarietyoforganic molecules from fresh biochar may in some cases be responsible for increases or decreases in abundance and activity of soil biota. A road map for future biochar research must include a systematic appreciation of different biochar-types and basic manipulative experiments that unambiguously identify the interactions between biochar and soil biota.

http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/pictures/publ/SoilBiolBiochem%2043,%201812–1836,%202011%20Lehmann.pdf

Biochar effects on soil biota – A review

Biochar is a carbon-rich coproduct resulting from pyrolyzing biomass. When applied to the soil it resists decomposition, effectively sequestering the applied carbon and mitigating anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Other promoted benefits of biochar application to soil include increased plant productivity and reduced nutrient leaching. However, the effects of biochar are variable and it remains unclear if recent enthusiasm can be justified. We evaluate ecosystem responses to biochar application with a meta-analysis of 371 independent studies culled from 114 published manuscripts. We find that despite variability introduced by soil and climate, the addition of biochar to soils resulted, on average, in increased aboveground productivity, crop yield, soil microbial biomass, rhizobia nodulation, plant K tissue concentration, soil phosphorus (P), soil potassium (K), total soil nitrogen (N), and total soil carbon (C) compared with control conditions. Soil pH also tended to increase, becoming less acidic, following the addition of biochar. Variables that showed no significant mean response to biochar included belowground productivity, the ratio of aboveground : belowground biomass, mycorrhizal colonization of roots, plant tissue N, and soil P concentration, and soil inorganic N. Additional analyses found no detectable relationship between the amount of biochar added and aboveground productivity. Our results provide the first quantitative review of the effects of biochar on multiple ecosystem functions and the central tendencies suggest that biochar holds promise in being a win-win-win solution to energy, carbon storage, and ecosystem function. However, biochar's impacts on a fourth component, the downstream nontarget environments, remain unknown and present a critical research gap.

https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcbb.12037

Biochar and its effects on plant productivity and nutrient cycling: a meta‐analysis

Soil microbial populations are immersed in a framework of interactions known to affect plant fitness and soil quality. They are involved in fundamental activities that ensure the stability and productivity of both agricultural systems and natural ecosystems. Strategic and applied research has demonstrated that certain co-operative microbial activities can be exploited, as a low-input biotechnology, to help sustainable, environmentally-friendly, agro-technological practices. Much research is addressed at improving understanding of the diversity, dynamics, and significance of rhizosphere microbial populations and their cooperative activities. An analysis of the co-operative microbial activities known to affect plant development is the general aim of this review. In particular, this article summarizes and discusses significant aspects of this general topic, including (i) the analysis of the key activities carried out by the diverse trophic and functional groups of micro-organisms involved in cooperative rhizosphere interactions; (ii) a critical discussion of the direct microbe–microbe interactions which results in processes benefiting sustainable agroecosystem development; and (iii) beneficial microbial interactions involving arbuscular mycorrhiza, the omnipresent fungus–plant beneficial symbiosis. The trends of this thematic area will be outlined, from molecular biology and ecophysiological issues to the biotechnological developments for integrated management, to indicate where research is needed in the future.

http://www.dzumenvis.nic.in/Microbes%20and%20Plants%20Growth/pdf/Microbial%20co-operation%20in%20the%20rhizosphere.pdf

Microbial co-operation in the rhizosphere

Recently, iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted much consideration due to their unique properties, such as superparamagnetism, surface-to-volume ratio, greater surface area, and easy separation methodology. Various physical, chemical, and biological methods have been adopted to synthesize magnetic NPs with suitable surface chemistry. This review summarizes the methods for the preparation of iron oxide NPs, size and morphology control, and magnetic properties with recent bioengineering, commercial, and industrial applications. Iron oxides exhibit great potential in the fields of life sciences such as biomedicine, agriculture, and environment. Nontoxic conduct and biocompatible applications of magnetic NPs can be enriched further by special surface coating with organic or inorganic molecules, including surfactants, drugs, proteins, starches, enzymes, antibodies, nucleotides, nonionic detergents, and polyelectrolytes. Magnetic NPs can also be directed to an organ, tissue, or tumor using an external magnetic field for hyperthermic treatment of patients. Keeping in mind the current interest in iron NPs, this review is designed to report recent information from synthesis to characterization, and applications of iron NPs.

/pdf/synthesis-characterization-applications-and-challenges-of-2ixwf29t2j.pdf

Synthesis, characterization, applications, and challenges of iron oxide nanoparticles

Chitosan as a potential natural compound to control pre and postharvest diseases of horticultural commodities

Tripartite interactions are common and occur when one agent (an arthropod or pathogen) changes the host plant in a manner that alters the attack of the challenging agent We examined herbivory from the purple marsh crab (Sesarma reticulatum) on Spartina alterniflora following exposure to drought or inoculation with Fusarium palustre in mecocosms in the greenhouse and in crab-infested creek banks along intertidal salt marshes Initially, drought stress on S alterniflora and disease from F palustre were examined in the greenhouse Then, a second challenger, the purple marsh crab, was introduced to determine how drought and disease from F palustre affected the attraction and consumption of S alterniflora Plant height and shoot and root weights were reduced in plants subjected to severe drought treatment when compared with normally irrigated plants When the drought treatment was combined with inoculation with F palustre, plants were significantly more stunted and symptomatic, had less fresh we

https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/PHYTO-08-13-0219-R

A Tripartite Interaction Between Spartina alterniflora, Fusarium palustre, and the Purple Marsh Crab (Sesarma reticulatum) Contributes to Sudden Vegetation Dieback of Salt Marshes in New England.

Efficacy of biofungicides against root rot and damping-off of microgreens caused by Pythium spp.

Eggplants were grown in soils naturally infested with Verticillium dahliae and in soils that had been planted to rye for more than 15 yr. Plants were grown using four cultural treatments with or without black plastic mulch, and either side-dressed by hand with nitrogen (112 kg N/ha) 35-45 days after planting or not side-dressed. The date when visual symptoms first appeared, the percentage of chlorotic and/or wilted leaves, plant size, and yield were monitored over the season

Effect of black plastic mulch and nitrogen side-dressing on Verticillium wilt of eggplant.

Single potato plants (Solanum tuberosum cv. Superior) were grown in microplots in soil that was fumigated and then infested with Verticillium dahliae, Pratylenchus penetrans, or both to evaluate the effects of these pathogens and of cultural treatments with spent mushroom compost or straw mulch on gas exchange of potato leaves. Photosynthesis and transpiration of terminal leaflets of a cohort of similar-aged leaves were measured once a week from the time of expansion until they senesced. Over all measurements, gas exchange per unit leaf area was less for plants in microplots infested with V. dahliae or P. penetrans than for those in uninfested plots. For leaves that expanded in early June, gas exchange was similar immediately after leaf expansion but declined more quickly when microplots were infested with one or both pathogens compared to no infestation. Overall, leaf gas exchange was increased by compost amendment but not affected by straw mulch. Compost amendment prevented some of the decline in gas exchange due to infestation by one or both pathogens. For leaves that expanded in July, compost increased the gas exchange immediately after expansion in both infested and non-infested plots.

/pdf/the-influence-of-compost-amendment-or-straw-mulch-on-the-26ajak9ewe.pdf

The Influence of Compost Amendment or Straw Mulch on the Reduction of Gas Exchange in Potato by Verticillium dahliae and Pratylenchus penetrans.

Twelve trap plant experiments were conducted over 6 years to examine the spatial dispersal of conidia of Septoria lycopersici (causal agent of Septoria leaf spot) during and immediately following rain events. The leaf area of each trap plant was determined before exposure. Trap plants were placed out in the field for 1 to 5 days at perpendicular distances of 0.5 to 106 m from rows (29 to 67 m long) of inoculated tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum). Trap plants were retrieved and then incubated for 10 to 14 days in a greenhouse. Septoria leaf spot lesions were then counted, and disease severity was expressed as the number of lesions per unit leaf area (lesions/m 2 ). Disease severity was high (10 3 to 10 6 lesions/m 2 ) within a meter of the source and low (10 to 10 3 lesions/m 2 ), but detectable at distances of up to 106 m from the line source. The logarithm of the resulting disease severity on trap plants was found to be well correlated (r 2 = 0.59 to 0.98, df = 10 to 30) with the logarithm of distance from the line source, suggesting a dispersal function described by an inverse power law of distance. The observed transport at long distance suggests that at least some conidia are carried in very small rain droplets or secondary splash droplets. This long-range dispersal of spores may have a major impact on the epidemiology of this disease.

Wade H. Elmer

Papers

A Tripartite Interaction Between Spartina alterniflora, Fusarium palustre, and the Purple Marsh Crab (Sesarma reticulatum) Contributes to Sudden Vegetation Dieback of Salt Marshes in New England.

Efficacy of biofungicides against root rot and damping-off of microgreens caused by Pythium spp.

Effect of black plastic mulch and nitrogen side-dressing on Verticillium wilt of eggplant.

The Influence of Compost Amendment or Straw Mulch on the Reduction of Gas Exchange in Potato by Verticillium dahliae and Pratylenchus penetrans.

Septoria leaf spot lesion density on trap plants exposed at varying distances from infected tomatoes.