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Microbial–Faunal Interactions in the Rhizosphere

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Rhizosphere Biology: Interactions Between Microbes and Plants

Part of the book series: Rhizosphere Biology ((RHBIO))

Abstract

Soils are home for a huge variety of organisms that are profoundly enriched in the rhizosphere. The most abundant ones, microbial bacteria (and to a lesser extent archaea) and fungi, directly compete for plant-derived nutrients that they use for reproduction. Predators of these minute microorganisms control their abundances, community structure and activity. Microbial protists, faunal nematodes and microarthropods are arguably the main bacterial and fungal predators, but also other groups including enchytraeids and even predatory bacteria, fungi and viruses contribute to microbial mortality. In this chapter, we introduce the major predators of microorganisms, their specific interactions with bacteria and fungi, and how predation on microorganisms affects nutrient cycling and eventually plant performance. We focus on protists and nematodes as the key microbial predators. We exemplify how this knowledge helps at better understanding microbial–faunal interactions, and how interactions among those microbial predators affect soil food webs. Overall, we show that the diversity of microbial predators is key to control rhizosphere microbiomes and, eventually, governs plant performance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherland Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Stefan Geisen & Casper W. Quist

  2. Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Stefan Geisen & Casper W. Quist

  3. Biosystematics Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Casper W. Quist

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  1. Stefan Geisen
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  2. Casper W. Quist
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Correspondence to Stefan Geisen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Agriculture and Food, CSIRO, Urrbrae, Australia

    Vadakattu V. S. R. Gupta

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, CBSH, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India

    Anil K. Sharma

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Geisen, S., Quist, C.W. (2021). Microbial–Faunal Interactions in the Rhizosphere. In: Gupta, V.V.S.R., Sharma, A.K. (eds) Rhizosphere Biology: Interactions Between Microbes and Plants. Rhizosphere Biology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6125-2_12

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