The “Inside” Story? An article in Science magazine (see Ref. 1 below) reports evidence supporting the hypothesis that leaf-dwelling, nitrogen-fixing bacteria may provide host plants with significant amounts of nitrogen. In the past, we briefly explored the microbial phyllosphere, that is, the microbes – including nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria – that dwell…
You Talkin’ To Me? Dodder (genus Cuscuta) is an example of a parasitic plant. That is, it derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. In a previous post, we saw how dodder seedlings may “sniff out” their victims. But dodder seedlings may do much more…
“It’s Through The Wire…” Most plants in the wild are interconnected via common mycorrhizal networks (CMN) . The “Wood-Wide-Web” and Plant “Social Networks” are two previous posts that explore one of the most intriguing – and frustrating – subjects in plant biology. Intriguing, because vascular land plants likely owe their…
The Rhizosphere Roots are leaky. That is, some of the sugars transported from the leaves down to the roots may diffuse into the narrow area of soil near the roots. Plant roots also secrete polysaccharides and glycoproteins (sometimes called mucilage) and other organic compounds. Thus, to soil-dwelling microorganisms, plant roots…
Plant Networking Many neighboring plants may be interconnected by an underground fungal network known as mycorrhizae. (See a previous post on the subject.) These soil fungi, called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), are found in virtually all terrestrial ecosystems, and they form symbiotic relationships with a wide variety of plants. The…
Mushrooms are the visible manifestations (sexual organs, actually) of microscopic, soil-dwelling fungi that form mutually-beneficial partnerships with plants. Since these filamentous fungi interact with the roots of plants, such symbiotic relationships are called mycorrhizae, literally “fungus root”. Fossil evidence supports the idea that these plant-fungal partnerships are as old as…
How a parasitic plant may “sniff out” its victims. As on the internet, once information is broadcast, even if only among ‘friends’, it becomes available for other unintended and unexpected uses. Dodder (genus Cuscuta) is a parasitic plant on other plants. But how does this plant find its host? Apparently,…
Just Keep Talking The idea of chemical communication among plants has recently gone from being viewed as a fringe idea to an accepted biological phenomenon. We now know that plants use several different volatile organic compounds not only to send signals from one part of the plant to another part,…
Leaf Surfaces = Microbial Habitats Imagine all the leaves of all the plants currently living on planet Earth. Now, add up all the surface areas of all of those leaves. And your answer is?… No idea?…. Luckily, some microbiologists have made an estimate, and it’s an astounding number. According to…