Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Elizabeth Stockdale, Dr Anke Herrmann
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
Plant roots and microorganisms interact and compete for nutrients within the rhizosphere, which is considered one of the most biologically complex systems on Earth. Unraveling the nitrogen (N) cycle is key to understanding and managing nutrient flows in terrestrial ecosystems, yet to date it has proved impossible to analyze and image N transfer in situ within such a complex system at a scale relevant to soil-microbe-plant interactions. Linking the physical heterogeneity of soil to biological processes marks a current frontier in plant and soil sciences. Here we present a new and widely applicable approach that allows imaging of the spatial and temporal dynamics of the stable isotope N-15 assimilated within the rhizosphere. This approach allows visualization and measurement of nutrient resource capture between competing plant cells and microorganisms. For confirmation we show the correlative use of nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry, and transmission electron microscopy, to image differential partitioning of (NH4+)-N-15 between plant roots and native soil microbial communities at the submicron scale. It is shown that N-15 compounds can be detected and imaged in situ in individual microorganisms in the soil matrix and intracellularly within the root. Nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry has potential to allow the study of assimilatory processes at the submicron level in a wide range of applications involving plants, microorganisms, and animals.
Author(s): Clode PL, Kilburn MR, Jones DL, Stockdale EA, Cliff JB, Herrmann AM, Murphy DV
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Plant Physiology
Year: 2009
Volume: 151
Issue: 4
Pages: 1751-1757
ISSN (print): 0032-0889
ISSN (electronic): 1532-2548
Publisher: American Society of Plant Biologists
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1104/pp.109.141499
DOI: 10.1104/pp.109.141499
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
