{"title":"Plant growth-promoting bacteria reshape rhizosphere microbial networks and biochemical properties to drive sustainable Zea mays growth","authors":"Yingying Cheng, Ying Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106275","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106275","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) inoculants are crucial for sustainable agriculture, enhancing ecological balance and crop yields. Soil microbial communities are integral to maintaining soil fertility and ecological stability. However, the precise impacts of exogenous PGPB inoculants on the intricate relationships within rhizosphere microbial communities remain underexplored under phosphorus (P)-deficiency conditions. This study investigated the relationships between laboratory-screened endophytic and rhizosphere PGPB and microbial communities in a <em>Zea mays</em> pot experiment, assessing their effects on soil biochemical properties and plant physiological parameters. Results revealed that PGPB inoculation significantly influenced the relative abundance of rhizosphere microbial communities, enhancing the modularity of indigenous bacterial and differential microbiota. Notably, highly connected nodes within microbial community modules suggested enhanced functional interactions. Kruskal-Wallis rank-sum tests for intergroup differences, network analysis of differential microbiota, and PICRUSt2 functional prediction demonstrated that exogenous PGPB inoculants significantly increased the relative abundance of microbiota associated with carbon and nitrogen metabolism, including <em>Allorhizobium-Neorhizobium-Pararhizobium-Rhizobium</em> sp., <em>Ciceribacter</em> sp., and <em>Azospirillum</em> sp. Further analysis using db-RDA, correlation network maps, and partial least squares structural equation modeling revealed the close relationships between these microbial communities and key soil nutrient factors (e.g., soil organic matter, available phosphorus), soil enzyme activities (e.g., acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, urease, cellulase), and plant physiological indicators (e.g., photosynthetic rate, soluble sugar, and soluble protein content). Our study demonstrates that PGPB inoculation enhances beneficial bacteria, microbial interactions, and rhizosphere soil properties, supporting <em>Z. mays</em> growth and development under P-deficiency conditions. These findings improve our understanding of PGPB's ecological roles and growth-promoting mechanisms, encouraging their broader use in sustainable agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 106275"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144322438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rhizosphere synergy: The role of endogeic earthworms in nutrient cycling, plant growth, and soil organic matter stabilization","authors":"Anna Cibulková, Hana Šantrůčková, Eva Kaštovská","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106272","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106272","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Living plant roots play a crucial role in stabilizing soil organic matter (SOM), which in turn influences overall soil function in ecosystems. Sequestration of SOM is also mediated by earthworms, which facilitate the transformation of older SOM and fresh plant material into more stable forms. While this role is well documented for earthworms feeding on litter, the interaction between endogeic, soil-dwelling earthworms, root-derived inputs to the soil, such as rhizodeposition, and the rhizosphere microbiome is even less known. In an eight-week laboratory experiment, we investigated the interaction between the endogeic earthworm <em>Aporrectodea caliginosa</em> and the roots of maize (<em>Zea mays</em>) using rhizoboxes with soil differing from the maize in its <sup>13</sup>C natural abundance to determine the fate of rhizodeposition, the effects on nutrient availability, microbial activity and SOM, especially the dynamics of particulate organic matter (POM) and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM), as well as the formation of stable aggregates in the rhizosphere. We found that earthworms promote plant growth by accelerating nitrogen recycling and increasing nitrate availability, to a lesser extent phosphorus uptake by plants, and to a large extent phosphorus accumulation in the rhizosphere microbial community. Earthworm activities, which led to increased plant biomass and rhizodeposition, stimulated microbial processes in the rhizosphere, accelerated SOM turnover, improved aggregate stability and appeared to favour the formation of stable MAOM. These results underline the positive influence of the interaction between soil-dwelling earthworms, plant roots and microorganisms in the rhizosphere on SOM stabilization and nutrient cycling, and thus on overall soil quality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 106272"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144330405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lorenzo Vergani , Mekhala Chandrasekara , Chathurika Wanninayake , Francesca Mapelli , Sanath Hettiarachi , Sara Borin
{"title":"Rhizosphere transplants from Guinea grass support the yield and modulate the microbiota of chili and rice root systems depending on the plant's variety and growth stage","authors":"Lorenzo Vergani , Mekhala Chandrasekara , Chathurika Wanninayake , Francesca Mapelli , Sanath Hettiarachi , Sara Borin","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106273","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106273","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biofertilization by rhizosphere microbiome transplant (RMT) is an emerging approach of plant microbiome engineering, for its potential to reduce the input of synthetic chemicals, hence preserving soil ecosystem and human health. However, its feasibility and outcomes need deeper investigation through field studies. This work aimed at evaluating the efficacy and the ecological impact on soil microorganisms of a biofertilizer that could be self-produced by farmers in Sri Lanka through RMT from Guinea grass (<em>Panicum maximum</em>), a widespread weed able to adapt to harsh conditions. Root wash (RW) and arbuscular mycorrhizae (AMF) obtained from the root system of <em>Panicum</em> were separately supplied to chili pepper and two local varieties of rice, Suwadel and Kuruluthuda. Decreasing doses of chemical fertilizer were also applied, combined with the inocula or as separate controls. In chili and in rice var. Suwadel all the biofertilization treatments improved the crop productivity compared to the non-treated controls or to the plants supplemented only with the minimum dose of chemical fertilizer. RW and AMF applied alone or supplied with 50 % of the optimal fertilizer dose resulted in yields comparable to 100 % chemical fertilization, suggesting the potential to reduce its input by half. Microbiome transplant showed an impact on bacterial and fungal communities at flowering stage, with the enrichment of Bacillaceae, Exiguobacteraceae, Micrococcaceae, Trichocomaceae and Aspergillaceae compared to non-treated plants. Our results indicate promising results of RMT in terms of crop yield improvement in field conditions, with structural changes in the rhizosphere microbiome related to the recruitment of beneficial microorganisms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 106273"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144330577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shuo Li , Wen Ge , Yongtao Wang , Zizhu Wang , Hua Cai , Lei Zhang
{"title":"Land subsidence caused by underground coal mining resource development alters soil properties and disrupts bacterial community assembly mechanisms in wheat fields: A case study of mining ages of 16, 31, and 40 years","authors":"Shuo Li , Wen Ge , Yongtao Wang , Zizhu Wang , Hua Cai , Lei Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106262","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106262","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Underground coal mining induced subsidence alters soil properties, causing nutrient loss and reduced fertility. Soil microbial communities, which are highly sensitive to environmental changes, play a crucial role in nutrient cycling within these ecosystems. However, the dynamics of microbial succession, community assembly, and species coexistence in subsidence-affected wheat fields remain underexplored. To address this knowledge gap, this study employs 16S rRNA gene sequencing, alongside linear mixed-effects models, neutral models, and phylogenetic null models, to investigate bacterial community characteristics and assembly mechanisms in wheat fields soils at varying depths (0–20, 20–40 and 40–60 cm) near subsided lakes (within 100 m) with varying mining ages (16, 31 and 40 years). The results indicate that land subsidence increases soil moisture and alters the distribution of potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus. This process significantly (<em>P</em> < 0.001) enhances the similarity of bacterial communities between the middle and deep layers while emphasizing their differences from the surface layer. Over time, the long-term dynamics of conditionality rare or abundant taxa (CRAT) in the bacterial community emphasized the enhanced ability of the bacterial community to oxidise ammonia, promote the rise of soil organic matter content and improve soil aggregate stability. At greater depths, the communities show advantages in nitrification, denitrification, and the efficient utilization of limited and complex organic substrates. Additionally, with increasing depth, deterministic processes significantly influence bacterial community composition (especially CRAT), making the co-occurrence network more dependent on a few core taxa, a trend that becomes more evident as mining age increases. In contrast, communities shaped by long-term environmental fluctuations are mainly driven by stochastic processes, further confirming that increased soil moisture due to land subsidence enhances the potential for taxa dispersal. This study highlights the necessity of land reclamation and sustainable agricultural management to restore soil ecology in subsidence-affected areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 106262"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144330404","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ruihong Wang , Hao Qin , Zhijian Shi , Mengben Wang , Junjian Li
{"title":"Enhanced microbial network stability and biogeochemical cycles in saline-alkali soil through simplified prokaryotes and complex fungal networks","authors":"Ruihong Wang , Hao Qin , Zhijian Shi , Mengben Wang , Junjian Li","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106245","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106245","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil salinization has rapidly become a critical global environmental issue in the current century. Understanding the structure of microbial networks and their interactions with biogeochemical cycles is vital to maintaining the stability of microbial communities and predicting ecosystem responses to salinization under climate change scenarios. Using metagenomic sequencing focuses on analyzing microbial community characteristics, as well as the function genes responsible for the cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S), in four distinct natural saline-alkali gradients: Non-saline, Low salinity, Medium salinity, and High salinity. The result revealed that salinity significantly alters the structures of bacterial, fungal, and archaeal communities and influences the functional genes related to the biogeochemical cycles. Notably, the increase of relative abundance in Proteobacteria (0.20, 0.30, 0.36, 0.38) with salinity, suggest its utility as a salinity indicator. Linear regression model revealed a significant negative correlation between salinity and the network complexity of prokaryotic, with higher network complexity does not favor the structural stability. In contrast, fungi network complexity positively correlated with salinity and stability. Additionally, while the complexity of prokaryotic networks significant negatively correlated with the metabolic potential of C, N, and S cycles, fungal showed a significantly positive correlation with P cycling. Random forest results identified salinity as the top driver of microbial network complexity (bacteria: 8.28 %; fungi: 7.22 %, archaea: 9.28 %). These insights suggest that the structural differences between prokaryotes and fungi result in varying responses to salinity, network structure, and elemental cycles. The interplay between simplified prokaryotic networks and more complex fungal networks could enhance microbial network stability and improve biogeochemical cycling. This study newly identifies the divergent responses of prokaryotic and fungal networks to salinity, challenging previous assumptions about uniform microbial responses. Therefore, maintaining the appropriate complexity of belowground communities is essential for the effective management of saline-alkali ecosystems and sustainable agricultural development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 106245"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144322437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yalin Li, Jiao Yan, Yizhong Lv, Baoguo Li, Hu Zhou
{"title":"Earthworms mitigate the straw-induced microbial resource limitation and increase microbial carbon use efficiency in the no-tillage system","authors":"Yalin Li, Jiao Yan, Yizhong Lv, Baoguo Li, Hu Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106261","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106261","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>No-tillage with straw return is an effective strategy for improving soil quality and fostering earthworm community. Straw return could increase soil microbial resource limitations, which strongly change the processes of microbial metabolism and subsequently nutrient cycling in agroecosystems. However, the soil microbial resource limitations in response to increased earthworm community remain unclear. A microcosm experiment was conducted to quantify how earthworms regulate the effect of straw addition on microbial resource limitations and subsequent impact on microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE). Results showed that straw return enhanced microbial nitrogen (N) limitation, but this enhancement was mitigated by earthworms, primarily due to increased nutrients availability. Earthworms with straw addition significantly enhanced microbial CUE, primarily attributed to the increased nutrients availability and reduced microbial resource limitations. Overall, our results revealed that earthworms decreased straw-induced microbial N limitation and increased microbial CUE, emphasizing the importance of earthworms in balancing soil microbial resource limitations and C sequestration in the no-tillage agricultural system.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 106261"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144312509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Taobing Yu , Yongkang Wen , Qing Zhang , Jida Yang , Huadong Zang , Zhaohai Zeng , Yadong Yang
{"title":"Organic management improves soil multifunctionality by enhancing soil quality and enriching key microbes in tea plantation","authors":"Taobing Yu , Yongkang Wen , Qing Zhang , Jida Yang , Huadong Zang , Zhaohai Zeng , Yadong Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106260","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106260","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Intensive fertilization leads to soil acidification and nutrient imbalance in tea plantations. Organic management can improve soil structure, promote soil microbial activity and metabolism, and conducive to sustainable development of tea cultivation. However, our understanding of how long-term organic management affects soil quality index (SQI), soil multifunctionality (SMF), and microbial composition in tea plantations at different soil layers remains limited. Here, the enzyme activities, microbial communities, SQI and SMF in the topsoil (0–20 cm) and subsoil (20–40 cm) of tea plantations with conventional (CM) and organic (OM) managements for 20 years history were investigated. Results showed that compared to CM, OM significantly increased soil total nutrients, available nutrients, and enzyme activities (especially in the topsoil) in three tea plantations. In addition, OM increased SQI and SMF by 14.0 %–41.3 % and 143.6 %–262.9 % in the topsoil and 12.2 %–22.2 % and 37.2 %–63.2 % in the subsoil, respectively. OM significantly increased relative abundance of key bacteria and fungi involved in nutrient cycling, including <em>Sphingomonas</em>, <em>Pseudomonas</em>, <em>Devosia</em>, <em>Nocardioides</em> and <em>Oidiodendron</em>. Structural equation model analysis found that OM improved SMF by driving key bacteria and fungi species induced by higher total and available nutrients and enhancing SQI in the topsoil, while improved SMF only by driving key bacteria species and enhancing SQI in the subsoil. Overall, our results highlight that organic management can improve SMF by enhancing SQI and enriching key microbial species in tea plantation soils, and these findings provide new perspective for adjustment of agricultural managements in tea plantation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 106260"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144307181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Interspecific dance: how bacteria, fungi, and plants interact to survive in polluted soils","authors":"Agata Kumor, Julia Borówka, Magdalena Noszczyńska","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106238","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106238","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The soil is a complex, dynamic habitat for the growth and activities of bacteria, fungi, and plants. These organisms continuously interact with each other, forming a meta-organism. Interactions within these meta-organisms are crucial for ecological balance, contributing to soil fertility and plant health. Their complexity is an exciting area of research that has shown steady progress in the last decade. Advances in the field have demonstrated that synergistic and mutualistic interactions - among different bacteria, between bacteria and fungi, and between plants and microbes - act as biocatalysts, facilitating the elimination of organic and inorganic pollutants from the soil. Interactions between microorganisms driven by the synergistic metabolic processes of bacteria and fungi significantly improve the removal of these compounds, while plant-microbe interactions modify rhizosphere parameters, leading to increased microbial activity and more efficient removal of recalcitrant contaminants. Additionally, bacterial and fungal plant growth-promoting mechanisms can be utilized to improve the efficiency of phytoremediation of pollutants from the soil. This review discusses recent advances in understanding the importance of multifaceted crosstalk among bacteria, fungi, and plants in polluted soil. This study is valuable as it focuses on the interplay between organisms under stressful conditions, which significantly alters their relationships compared to uncontaminated soils. Here, we review interactions - including recently discovered ones - and the associated new insights into bacteria, fungi, and plant interactions. A better understanding of beneficial interactions between bacteria, fungi, and plants is crucial for improving bioremediation techniques.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 106238"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144307192","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhouwen Ma , Lan Li , Yingxin Wang , Qingping Zhou , Xinquan Zhang , Fujiang Hou
{"title":"The interplay between plant communities and soil properties response to litter manipulation shape soil bacterial community composition in an alpine meadow","authors":"Zhouwen Ma , Lan Li , Yingxin Wang , Qingping Zhou , Xinquan Zhang , Fujiang Hou","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106265","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106265","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil bacterial communities play a vital role in biogeochemical cycles and the sustainable functioning of grassland ecosystems. Plant community characteristics, such as species diversity, asynchrony, and ground cover, interact with soil resource availability, including temperature, moisture balance, and nutrient cycling, to influence soil community structure. However, the mechanisms by which plant litter regulates bacterial communities through plant-soil interactions remain largely underexplored. We examined the response of soil bacterial community composition to a three-year experiment that added varying litter masses (0, 200, and 400 g m<sup>−2</sup>) of three litter species (<em>Elymus nutans</em>, <em>Kobresia setchwanensis</em>, and <em>Ligularia virgaurea</em>) in an alpine meadow. Our findings showed that <em>L. virgaurea</em> and <em>K. setchwanensis</em> litter at 200 and 400 g m<sup>−2</sup> significantly shifted soil bacterial community composition, although soil bacterial diversity was unaffected. Soil bacterial community composition was significantly correlated with soil and plant characteristics, as well as their interactions. Further analysis revealed that changes in soil bacterial communities were indirectly driven by shifts in soil available nitrogen and soil moisture. These changes were mediated by alterations in plant community coverage induced by litter manipulation. Additionally, changes in plant species asynchrony-either directly through litter-induced effects on soil available phosphorus and plant diversity or indirectly via increased soil pH-played a role in regulating bacterial community composition under litter manipulation. This study concludes that litter-induced interactions between plant communities and soil properties are important drivers of the soil bacterial community composition, and provides insights into cascading effects in plant-soil-bacterial interactions that support multiple ecosystem functions in alpine meadows.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 106265"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144307193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shokoofeh Kamali, David Olabiyi, Lauren Marie Diepenbrock, Lukasz L. Stelinski, Larry Wayne Duncan
{"title":"Entomopathogenic nematodes employ multiple strategies to avoid the scent of predation","authors":"Shokoofeh Kamali, David Olabiyi, Lauren Marie Diepenbrock, Lukasz L. Stelinski, Larry Wayne Duncan","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106269","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106269","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are insect parasites widely used for biological control of economically significant soil pests. Their persistence in soil is shaped by abiotic factors such as temperature, moisture, and soil texture, as well as biotic pressures from predators and pathogens. Predation by mites imposes strong selection pressure, driving the evolution of nematode responses to microarthropod predators. We hypothesized that heterorhabditid and steinernematid nematodes reduce encounters with mites by responding to mite-associated chemical cues. We examined the numerical and behavioral responses of four EPN species—<em>Heterorhabditis bacteriophora</em>, <em>H. indica</em>, <em>Steinernema feltiae</em>, and <em>S. diaprepesi</em>—to the predatory mite <em>Stratiolaelaps scimitus</em>. In a sand/organic substrate, predation by mites significantly reduced nematode recovery: <em>S. diaprepesi</em> by 90 % and <em>H. bacteriophora</em>, <em>H. indica</em>, and <em>S. feltiae</em> by about 50 %, highlighting species-specific susceptibility to predation. <em>H. bacteriophora</em> and <em>S. diaprepesi</em> exhibited active predator avoidance behaviors, while <em>S. feltiae</em> remained stationary, potentially minimizing detection by mites. Surprisingly, <em>H. indica</em> was attracted to mites, suggesting a unique ecological role or possible resistance through physical or chemical defenses. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry identified two isomers of citral—neral and geranial—emitted by <em>S. scimitus</em>, which repelled <em>H. bacteriophora</em> and <em>S. diaprepesi</em>. These findings suggest that EPNs detect and respond to predator-associated odors, demonstrating the role of chemical signaling in soil predator-prey interactions. Understanding these mechanisms may enhance sustainability of biological pest control in agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 106269"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144307182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}