Newswise — September 13, 2016— The rhizosphere is the area within soil influenced by root systems and soil microbes. And, it’s where most of the nutrients for plants get cycled from the soil for plant growth – and plant-produced secretions go back to the soil for storage and use by microbes.
“The Rhizosphere” symposium planned at the Resilience Emerging from Scarcity and Abundance ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, will address this important topic. The symposium will be held Tuesday, November 8, 2016 at 1:30PM. The meeting is sponsored by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America.
“Producing more food with less impact on ecosystem services such as the biogeochemical cycles of nutrients is a major challenge ahead of us,” says Phillippe Hinsinger, INRA, France. “Some solutions to design sustainable intensification of agroecosystems pertain to understanding of rhizosphere ecology and biogeochemistry, as the root-soil interface is a major hotspot of biological activities in soils.” This provides exciting perspectives for breeding crops and trees that most efficiently acquire and cycle nutrients for improving the nutrient use efficiency of the agroecosystems of tomorrow.
According to Tarah Sullivan, Washington State University, “the specific metabolic activities and signaling that takes place within the microbiome and between the microbes and their host plants is a rapidly growing focus area of scientific understanding.” Her research seeks to bridge the gap in knowledge about the functional role of microorganisms associated with the roots of plant species, with specific focus on metal chelating abilities of members of the plant and soil microbiome.
For more information about the Resilience Emerging from Scarcity and Abundance 2016 meeting, visit https://www.acsmeetings.org/. Media are invited to attend the conference. Pre-registration by Oct. 26, 2016 is required. Visit https://www.acsmeetings.org/media for registration information. For information about the “The Rhizosphere” symposium, visit https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2016am/webprogram/Session15793.html.
To speak with one of the scientists, contact Susan V. Fisk, 608-273-8091, [email protected] to arrange an interview.
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