Browsing by Author "Dungait, Jennifer A. J."

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    Going Platinum: The European Journal of Soil Science at 75
    (Wiley, 2024-03-31) Dungait, Jennifer A. J.; Evans, Daniel L.; Farrell, Mark; He, Hailong; Heuvelink, Gerard B. M.; Schmidt, Olaf
    The European Journal of Soil Science (EJSS) is published by Wiley on behalf of the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS) to fulfil its original mission to ‘publish an annual publication’. The Journal for Soil Science published its first issue in March 1949 (Figure 1, left) before a change of name to the European Journal of Soil Science (EJSS) in 1994. The current issue (Volume 75, Issue 2, March-April 2024; Figure 1, right) therefore marks our 75th Anniversary. In this Editorial, we (the Senior Editorial Team of the EJSS; Figure 2) review briefly how the journal has evolved over the last three-quarters of a century and look forward to both the challenges and opportunities that the future holds.
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    A previously undescribed Helotialean fungus that is superabundant in soil under maritime Antarctic higher plants
    (Frontiers Media, 2020-12-18) Newsham, Kevin K.; Cox, Filipa; Sands, Chester J.; Garnett, Mark H.; Magan, Naresh; Horrocks, Claire A.; Dungait, Jennifer A. J.; Robinson, Clare H.
    We report a previously undescribed member of the Helotiales that is superabundant in soils at two maritime Antarctic islands under Antarctic Hairgrass (Deschampsia antarctica Desv.). High throughput sequencing showed that up to 92% of DNA reads, and 68% of RNA reads, in soils from the islands were accounted for by the fungus. Sequencing of the large subunit region of ribosomal (r)DNA places the fungus close to the Pezizellaceae, Porodiplodiaceae, and Sclerotiniaceae, with analyses of internal transcribed spacer regions of rDNA indicating that it has affinities to previously unnamed soil and root fungi from alpine, cool temperate and Low Arctic regions. The fungus was found to be most frequent in soils containing C aged to 1,000–1,200 years before present. The relative abundances of its DNA and RNA reads were positively associated with soil carbon and nitrogen concentrations and δ13C values, with the relative abundance of its DNA being negatively associated with soil pH value. An isolate of the fungus produces flask-shaped phialides with a pronounced venter bearing masses of conidia measuring 4.5–6(7) × 1.8–2.5 μm, suggestive of anamorphic Chalara. Enzymatic studies indicate that the isolate strongly synthesizes the extracellular enzyme acid phosphatase, and also exhibits alkaline phosphatase and naphthol-AS-BI-phosphohydrolase activities. Ecophysiological measurements indicate optimal hyphal growth of the isolate at a pH of 4.2–4.5 and a water potential of −0.66 MPa. The isolate is a psychrotroph, exhibiting measureable hyphal growth at −2°C, optimal hyphal extension rate at 15°C and negligible growth at 25°C. It is proposed that the rising temperatures that are predicted to occur in maritime Antarctica later this century will increase the growth rate of the fungus, with the potential loss of ancient C from soils. Analyses using the GlobalFungi Database indicate that the fungus is present in cold, acidic soils on all continents. We advocate further studies to identify whether it is superabundant in soils under D. antarctica elsewhere in maritime Antarctica, and for further isolates to be obtained so that the species can be formally described
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    The role of microbial community composition in controlling soil respiration responses to temperature
    (PLOS (Public Library of Science), 2016-10-31) Auffret, Marc D.; Karhu, Kristiina; Khachane, Amit; Dungait, Jennifer A. J.; Fraser, Fiona; Hopkins, David W.; Wookey, Philip A.; Singh, Brajesh K.; Freitag, Thomas E.; Hartley, Iain P.; Prosser, James I.
    Rising global temperatures may increase the rates of soil organic matter decomposition by heterotrophic microorganisms, potentially accelerating climate change further by releasing additional carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. However, the possibility that microbial community responses to prolonged warming may modify the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration creates large uncertainty in the strength of this positive feedback. Both compensatory responses (decreasing temperature sensitivity of soil respiration in the long-term) and enhancing responses (increasing temperature sensitivity) have been reported, but the mechanisms underlying these responses are poorly understood. In this study, microbial biomass, community structure and the activities of dehydrogenase and β-glucosidase enzymes were determined for 18 soils that had previously demonstrated either no response or varying magnitude of enhancing or compensatory responses of temperature sensitivity of heterotrophic microbial respiration to prolonged cooling. The soil cooling approach, in contrast to warming experiments, discriminates between microbial community responses and the consequences of substrate depletion, by minimising changes in substrate availability. The initial microbial community composition, determined by molecular analysis of soils showing contrasting respiration responses to cooling, provided evidence that the magnitude of enhancing responses was partly related to microbial community composition. There was also evidence that higher relative abundance of saprophytic Basidiomycota may explain the compensatory response observed in one soil, but neither microbial biomass nor enzymatic capacity were significantly affected by cooling. Our findings emphasise the key importance of soil microbial community responses for feedbacks to global change, but also highlight important areas where our understanding remains limited.