As drones fill the sky over the battlegrounds in the war between Russia and Ukraine, a new front has emerged: a network of gas pipelines deep belowground, Simon Shuster reports.⁠ ⁠ Read more at the li...

Conventional tillage in orchards disrupts root and mycorrhizal networks. Legume cover crops establish belowground interactions with fruit trees through root- and mycelium-mediated pathways. The mechanisms by which these pathways affect soil organic carbon (SOC) fraction dynamics remain poorly docume

Rhizobium inoculation can improve alfalfa performance, but responses depend on both plant genotype and growing environment. We first screened 14 rhizobial strains plus one commercial inoculant with Medicago varia ‘Caoyuan No. 3’ (CY3) in a greenhouse pot experiment, together with an uninoculated control (16 treatments; three pots per treatment). Based on plant height, root length, leaf number, nodule number, and above- and belowground biomass after two months, SJN, HH, and HK were selected as higher-performing strains, whereas XBC, SWL, and XH were retained as lower-performing comparators. These six strains were then evaluated with CY3, Medicago sativa ‘Aohan’ (AH), and M. sativa ‘Adrenalin’ (ADN) in a replicated field experiment. Individual growth and nutritional responses varied among varieties and growth stages. At flowering, XH increased CY3 above-ground biomass by 113% relative to CK, whereas the reported TOPSIS composite ranking placed CY3+XBC first overall. The corresponding composite rankings placed AH+SJN and ADN+SWL first; notably, CK ranked second for ADN. Thus, ‘optimal’ refers to the highest reported composite score across the measured growth, nodulation and nutritional indicators, not superiority for every individual trait. Because symbiotic nitrogen fixation was not measured directly and a pre-sowing physicochemical baseline for the field soil was unavailable, the findings should be interpreted as context-dependent agronomic responses rather than direct quantification of nitrogen fixation or remediation of saline soil.

New research by Craig Morris, from the Agricultural Research Council, and Sindiso Nkuna, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The image above features the Site at the University of…

The phylogenetically conserved trade-off between the investment in root hairs and mycorrhization formation.

The phylogenetically conserved trade-off between the investment in root hairs and mycorrhization formation.

The phylogenetically conserved trade-off between the investment in root hairs and mycorrhization formation.

Commentary by Marina Reis from Avignon Université, France, and Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil. The photo above shows the group Bud Buddies presenting their mini-project to the participan…

As drones fill the skies over the war zone, the fighting in Ukraine has moved into a network of gas pipelines deep belowground.

As drones fill the skies over the war zone, the fighting in Ukraine has moved into a network of gas pipelines deep belowground.

As drones fill the skies over the war zone, the fighting in Ukraine has moved into a network of gas pipelines deep belowground.

As drones fill the skies over the war zone, the fighting in Ukraine has moved into a network of gas pipelines deep belowground.

As drones fill the skies over the war zone, the fighting in Ukraine has moved into a network of gas pipelines deep belowground.

As drones fill the skies over the war zone, the fighting in Ukraine has moved into a network of gas pipelines deep belowground.