New discoveries have been made in the study of plant-mediated underground mutual effects

from soil particles to plant leaves, from animal teeth to the intestinal skin, there are microbes on almost every surface on Earth. These microorganisms play a vital role in areas such as nutrient circulation, animal and plant health, and ecological diversity. Early studies have found that plants, as media, can transmit information to above- and eso-ground organisms like "telephones". However, it is not clear whether the above-ground and subseteric microbiomes can also be transmitted through plants. Recently, a joint team of Zhu Feng, a researcher at the Agricultural Resources Research Center of the Institute of Genetic Development of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and four ecologists from the Royal Netherlands Institute of Ecology, found that ground-based insects can selectively acquire microbiomes from the ground without plant intervention. The findings were published online online in Nature Communications.
first found that when only plant leaves were allowed to be taken, the structure of the microbiome in insects was simple. However, when the insects were provided with whole potted plants for feeding, the microorganisms in the insects were strikingly similar to the structure of the soil microbiome, with overlap rates as high as 75%. This also overturns the study's initial hypothesis that the plant microbiome is most relevant to the microbiome in plant-eating insects.
further studies have found that soil is domesticated by plants with different functional types and growth rates in the field, resulting in significant differences in the structure of soil bacteria and fungal community. This difference is also reflected in the microbial community structure of insects on the ground. It is also the first time that plant-influenced soil conditions have been found to affect insect microbial composition in this "genetic" way. The study also found that among the large number of soil microorganisms that aggregation in insects, some of the reported bacteria are associated with insect health and even human gut health. This also opens up ideas for future research.
study of the microbiome in insects, we can see the "legacy" effects of plants in the soil. The findings of this study are not only of great significance in the field of ecological research, but also of guiding significance to plant growers and eco-resource managers. (Source: Science Network Gao Chang'an Wang Hongmei)
the paper: