The secret life of underground microbes: Plant root microbiomes rule the world
Friday, September 20, 2013 - 04:00
in Biology & Nature
This is the cover of the American Journal of Botany September issue featuring the Rhizosphere Interactions special section. We often ignore what we cannot see, and yet organisms below the soil's surface play a vital role in plant functions and ecosystem well-being. These microbes can influence a plant's genetic structure, its health, and its interactions with other plants. A new series of articles in a Special Section in the American Journal of Botany on Rhizosphere Interactions: The Root Microbiome explores how root microbiomes influence plants across multiple scales—from cellular, bacterial, and whole plant levels to community and ecosystem levels.