We explore microbial regulation of biogeochemical processes in relation to sustainable ecosystem functioning and investigate how different parameters of global change and management practices would affect microbe-mineral-plant interactions and its effects on ecosystem nutrient budgets.
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We take advantage of long-term natural laboratories (reflecting evolution of plant microbe interactions over millennia) to explore microbial community composition, species adaptation, functional diversity and genome evolution. Such systems include long-term field experiments in undisturbed boreal forests growing under nutrient poor conditions, boreal forests subjected to intensive management practices, the ‘Evolution Canyon’ in Israel and Mt. Lemmon in Arizona, USA, the Angelo Coast Range Reserve in California, USA and Point Reyes National Seashore in California, USA. |
SEM image of fungal hyphae growing on the surface of fluorapatite (photo by Anna Rosling). |
Natural conditions provide the framework for generating theoretical testable and predictable models of biodiversity, microbial regulation of biogeochemical processes and genome evolution of rock colonizing microorganisms in different terrestrial ecosystems. Practical solutions to global challenges such as shortage of mineral resources and fertile soils may be derived from observations in natural settings.
Observations from the field are further examined by developing laboratory microcosm systems that mimic realistic natural environments using organisms isolated from relevant environments or complex natural communities. This allows us to study microbe-mineral-plant interactions at molecular level under controlled conditions. We use state-of-the-art molecular methods for microbial community and functional gene expression studies and have access to excellent analytical and high-resolution-microscopy facilities within the BioCentre.
People
Roger Finlay (Professor)
Anna Rosling (Researcher)
Salme Timmusk (Researcher)
Shahid Mahmood (Post-doc)
Our projects
Microbial communities colonising bedrocks – their role in biogeochemical cycling of nutrients in Swedish forests
(Shahid Mahmood, Roger Finlay)
Small-scale fungal community composition throughout soil profiles on contrasting parental material at Point Reyes National Sea Shore, CA, USA.
(Nick Rosenstock and Anna Rosling)
Bacterial distribution in the rhizosphere of wild progenitors of cereals (wild barley, emmer wheat) at the ‘Evolution Canyon’, Israel
(Salme Timmusk)
Ecological life strategies of soil microorganisms determined by analyzing microbial community composition in relation to soil biogeochmical processes over natural rain fall cycles.
(Anna Rosling, Karelyn Cruz, Jill Banfield)
Functional diversity of ‘active’ ectomycorrhizal mycelial networks and associated bacterial communities involved in granite weathering
(Shahid Mahmood, Roger Finlay)
Functional diversity of the ponderosa pine colonizing microorganisms at Mt. Lemmon, Arizona
(Salme Timmusk)
Functional diversity of ectoycorrhizal fungi and bacteria colonizing different mineral soil profiles
(Anna Rosling, Bin Lian and Sara Holmström)
Elevated nitrogen inputs – their impact on microbe-mineral-plant interactions and nutrients mobilization
(Shahid Mahmood, Catarina Martins, Jim Prosser, Roger Finlay)
The role of ACC deaminase containing bacteria in phosphorus solubilization at ‘Evolution Canyon’ and Mt. Lemmon Arizona
(Salme Timmusk)
The effect of elevated CO2 on weathering by pine seedlings colonized by ectomycorrhzial fungi.
(Nick Rosenstock and Anna Rosling)
Gene regulation of induced Goethite weathering in the dry root fungi Serpula lacrymans grown on carbon sources of different complexity.
(Anna Rosling, Nils Högberg, Jan Stenlid)