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  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Fungi awake bacteria from their slumber: Study reveals that fungi stimulate microbial activity in dry soils -- ScienceDaily
  • Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2017 22:20:46 -0400

Fungi awake bacteria from their slumber: Study reveals that fungi stimulate
microbial activity in dry soils -- ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170607085344.htm
Fungi awake bacteria from their slumber Study reveals that fungi stimulate
microbial activity in dry soils Date:June 7, 2017Source:Helmholtz Centre
for Environmental Research - UFZSummary:When a soil dries out, this has a
negative impact on the activity of soil bacteria. Using an innovative
combination of state-of-the-art analysis and imaging techniques,
researchers have now discovered that fungi increase the activity of
bacteria in dry and nutrient-poor habitats by supplying them with water and
nutrients. The ability of fungi to regulate drought stress in soil and thus
sustain ecosystem functions is an important insight in the context of
climate change. Share:
FULL STORY
------------------------------
The NanoSIMS is a secondary ion mass spectrometry system with a spatial
resolution of down to 50 nanometres. This high resolution combined with its
mass sensitivity make it possible to detect elements and isotopes on cell
surfaces and chemical changes inside cells. This instrument is part of the
newly established research platform, ProVIS. Dr. Niculina Musat and Dr.
Hryhoriy Stryhanyuk (co-authors of the paper) during sample analysis.
*Credit: UFZ*

When a soil dries out, this has a negative impact on the activity of soil
bacteria. Using an innovative combination of state-of-the-art analysis and
imaging techniques, researchers at UFZ have now discovered that fungi
increase the activity of bacteria in dry and nutrient-poor habitats by
supplying them with water and nutrients. The ability of fungi to regulate
drought stress in soil and thus sustain ecosystem functions is an important
insight in the context of climate change.

Many fungi spread through the soil with a fine network of thin filaments
known as hyphae. In their search for water and nutrients the hyphae grow in
different directions, constantly enlarging the network. Once found, water
and nutrients are absorbed and transported through the hyphae, allowing
them to be supplied to parts of the fungal network in dry or nutrient-poor
areas of the soil. But it isn't only the fungus itself which benefits from
the transport of material through the hyphal pipelines: bacteria, too, are
kept supplied with the water and nutrients they need to thrive. This has
now been demonstrated by a team of UFZ researchers in a study recently
published in the journal *Nature Communications*. "We've suspected for a
long time that fungi play an important role in the soil moisture budget,"
says UFZ environmental biotechnologist Prof. Matthias Kästner. "Now, using
secondary ion mass spectrometry techniques (NanoSIMS and ToF-SIMS) from the
ProVIS research platform at UFZ, we've finally obtained experimental
evidence."

As part of their investigations, the researchers closely examined the
transport of water, substrates and nutrients through the microscopically
small hyphae of fungi. They grew the fungi on a culture medium of water,
glucose and nitrogen-containing nutrients. The fungal hyphae had to pass
through a dry, nutrient-free zone in order to grow through into a new area
containing the culture medium. The inhospitable transition zone contained
spores of the common soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Spores are inactive
stages of Bacillus that form when there is insufficient water, food and
nutrients available for bacterial growth. The bacteria go into a kind of
dormant stage, from which they only awake once the environmental conditions
are more favourable for living again.

In the experiment, these conditions were indeed improved by the growth of
the fungi: "As the fungal hyphae grew through the dry zone, the bacterial
spores germinated and we noticed clear microbial activity," says UFZ
environmental microbiologist Dr. Lukas Y. Wick. "The fungi obviously
improved the environmental conditions for the bacteria and woke them from
their slumber, like Sleeping Beauty." But what exactly happens at a
chemical level when fungal hyphae grow in direct proximity to bacterial
spores? To answer this question, the researchers 'labelled' the water,
glucose and nitrogen-containing nutrients in the culture medium in advance
with stable isotopes. If these substances were transferred from the fungus
to the bacteria, they could be detected using the isotopic marker and the
NanoSIMS method, with nano-scale spatial resolution. "The NanoSIMS method
reveals the distribution of elements and isotops and therefore allows us to
observe metabolic processes," Kästner explains. "As it turns out, we did
find the stable isotopes of the labelled water, glucose and
nitrogen-containing nutrients in the cell mass of the bacteria -- which
could only have come from the fungi."

This study has given the UFZ researchers another important insight into
fungi and their important function in soils. Fungi serve as pumping
stations and pipelines for water, substrates and nutrients and can colonise
inhospitable locations, making them habitable for bacteria -- and thus
stimulate microbial activity in the soil. In previous work the researchers
have already shown that fungal hyphae act as a kind of fungal highway for
bacteria, allowing them to move around, and provide a hotspot for bacterial
gene transfer. Wick continues: "The results of this latest study
demonstrate once again that, through their interaction with bacteria, fungi
play a significant, previously underestimated role in the soil ecosystem."

If a soil is contaminated with pollutants, for example, bacteria can break
them down. But if the soil is too dry, the degradation processes will come
to a standstill. "If the drought period lasts for a limited time, fungi
have a stabilising effect and can keep soil processes going. This could be
important specifically with regard to the impacts of climate change, if the
ratio of dry to moist areas of soil dramatically increases," says Kästner.
In future investigations, the researchers therefore intend to look even
more closely at soil as a true ecosystem. "We want to carry out soil
experiments under different environmental conditions and find out what
influence fungal growth has on the breakdown of pollutants," says Wick. He
adds: "It's important to have a better understanding of the role of fungi
in the soil ecosystem. Only when we know how soil works can we respond to
changes, for example those caused by climate change, with informed
decisions."
------------------------------

*Story Source:*

Materials <http://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=36336&webc_pm=17/2017> provided
by *Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ*
<http://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=33573>. *Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.*
------------------------------

*Journal Reference*:

1. Anja Worrich, Hryhoriy Stryhanyuk, Niculina Musat, Sara König, Thomas
Banitz, Florian Centler, Karin Frank, Martin Thullner, Hauke Harms,
Hans-Hermann Richnow, Anja Miltner, Matthias Kästner, Lukas Y.
Wick. *Mycelium-mediated
transfer of water and nutrients stimulates bacterial activity in dry and
oligotrophic environments*. *Nature Communications*, 2017; 8: 15472 DOI:
10.1038/NCOMMS15472 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NCOMMS15472>

------------------------------

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Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ. "Fungi awake bacteria
from their slumber: Study reveals that fungi stimulate microbial activity
in dry soils." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 June 2017. <
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170607085344.htm>.


- RELATED TOPICS
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170607085344.htm#>
- Plants & Animals <https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/>
- Fungus <https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/fungus/>
- Organic
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/organic/>
- Soil Types
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/soil_types/>
- Microbes and More
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/microbes_and_more/>
- Microbiology
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/microbiology/>
- Bacteria
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/bacteria/>
- Drought
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/drought/>
- Extreme Survival
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/extreme_survival/>

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  • [permaculture] Fungi awake bacteria from their slumber: Study reveals that fungi stimulate microbial activity in dry soils -- ScienceDaily, Lawrence London, 06/16/2017

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