Fungal X-Intrinsic Protein Aquaporin from Trichoderma atroviride: Structural and Functional Considerations

The major intrinsic protein (MIP) superfamily is a key part of the fungal transmembrane transport network. It facilitates the transport of water and low molecular weight solutes across biomembranes. The fungal uncharacterized X-Intrinsic Protein (XIP) subfamily includes the full protein diversity of MIP. Their biological functions still remain fully hypothetical. The aim of this study is still to deepen the diversity and the structure of the XIP subfamily in light of the MIP counterparts-the aquaporins (AQPs) and aquaglyceroporins (AQGPs)-and to describe for the first time their function in the development, biomass accumulation, and mycoparasitic aptitudes of the fungal bioagent Trichoderma atroviride. The fungus-XIP Glade, with one member (TriatXIP), is one of the three clades of MIPs that make up the diversity of T. atroviride MIPs, along with the AQPs (three members) and the AQGPs (three members). TriatXIP resembles those of strict aquaporins, predicting water diffusion and possibly other small polar solutes due to particularly wider ar/R constriction with a Lysine substitution at the LE2 position. The XIP loss of function in Delta TriatXIP mutants slightly delays biomass accumulation but does not impact mycoparasitic activities. Delta TriatMIP forms colonies similar to wild type; however, the hyphae are slightly thinner and colonies produce rare chlamydospores in PDA and specific media, most of which are relatively small and exhibit abnormal morphologies. To better understand the molecular causes of these deviant phenotypes, a wide-metabolic survey of the ATriatXIPs demonstrates that the delayed growth kinetic, correlated to a decrease in respiration rate, is caused by perturbations in the pentose phosphate pathway. Furthermore, the null expression of the XIP gene strongly impacts the expression of four expressed MIP-encoding genes of T. atroviride, a plausible compensating effect which safeguards the physiological integrity and life cycle of the fungus. This paper offers an overview of the fungal XIP family in the biocontrol agent T. atroviride which will be useful for further functional analysis of this particular MIP subfamily in vegetative growth and the environmental stress response in fungi. Ultimately, these findings have implications for the ecophysiology of Trichoderma spp. in natural, agronomic, and industrial systems

Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils?

The need to provide appropriate information, technical advice and facilitation to support farmers in transitioning towards healthy soils is increasingly clear, and the role of the Agricultural Advisory Services (AAS) in this is critical. However, the transformation of AAS (plurality, commercialisation, fragmentation, decentralisation) brings new challenges for delivering advice to support soil health management. This paper asks: To what extent do agricultural advisory services have the capacity to support the transition to healthy soils across Europe? Using the ‘best fit’ framework, analytical characteristics of the AAS relevant to the research question (governance structures, management, organisational and individual capacities) were identified. Analysis of 18 semi-structured expert interviews across 6 case study countries in Europe, selected to represent a range of contexts, was undertaken. Capacities to provide soil health management (SHM) advice are constrained by funding arrangements, limited adviser training and professional development, adviser motivations and professional cultures, all determined by institutional conditions. This has resulted in a narrowing down of access and content of soil advice and a reduced capacity to support the transition in farming to healthy soils. The extent to which emerging policy and market drivers incentivise enhanced capacities in AAS is an important area for future research

PESFOR-W: Improving the design and environmental effectiveness of woodlands for water Payments for Ecosystem Services

ABSTRACT: The EU Water Framework Directive aims to ensure restoration of Europe?s water bodies to ?good ecological status? by 2027. Many Member States will struggle to meet this target, with around half of EU river catchments currently reporting below standard water quality. Diffuse pollution from agriculture represents a major pressure, affecting over 90% of river basins. Accumulating evidence shows that recent improvements to agricultural practices are benefiting water quality but in many cases will be insufficient to achieve WFD objectives. There is growing support for land use change to help bridge the gap, with a particular focus on targeted tree planting to intercept and reduce the delivery of diffuse pollutants to water. This form of integrated catchment management offers multiple benefits to society but a significant cost to landowners and managers. New economic instruments, in combination with spatial targeting, need to be developed to ensure cost effective solutions - including tree planting for water benefits - are realised. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are flexible, incentive-based mechanisms that could play an important role in promoting land use change to deliver water quality targets. The PESFOR-W COST Action will consolidate learning from existing woodlands for water PES schemes in Europe and help standardize approaches to evaluating the environmental effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of woodland measures. It will also create a European network through which PES schemes can be facilitated, extended and improved, for example by incorporating other ecosystem services linking with aims of the wider forestscarbon policy nexus

Legume-cereal intercropping as a strategy of regenerative agriculture supporting reverse of biodiversity loss - relevance of microbiome-based research

Adverse environmental impacts connceted with high chemicals and fertilizers use is one of the causes of biodiversity loss. Therefore, there is a need to looking for more natural and non-hazardous alternative approaches to make agriculture more sustain. The legume-cereal intercropping is currently one of the „hot topics” in the area of sustainable and regenerative agriculture. These intercropping practices are increasingly gaining attention as a way for enhancing soil ecosystem services and reversal biodiversity loss, as well as as a strategy of harnesing plant yield quality and soil health.Legume-cereal systems are the most common intercropping combinations used in sustainable agriculture models because of their noncompeting niche requirements and atmospheric nitrogen fixation which improve a balance of this nutrient in soil and plant and decrease the amount of mineral fertilizers use. However, conventional crop rotations in the EU are largely dominated by cereals while legume cultivation has declined in recent years.The idea of the LEGUMINOSE project includes that multi-species assemblages of plants deliver rhizosphere functions that are greater than the sum of the functions delivered by the rhizospheres of individual plants growing alone as a monoculture. We hypotheses that the higher plant diversity in intercropping will increase plant health, improve soil biodiversity and reduce the use of pesticides in agroecosystems. However ther is a knowledge gap concerning plant-soil-microbe interactions under root exudation from single and diverse plant assemblage and role of soil microbiomes in soil ecosystem functionality and plant production. Therefore we will focus on understanding these interactions by the microbiome research of soil and plant niches, including bulk soil, rhisozphere, roots and shoots of cereal and legume plants in order to assess the percentage of microbiota transfered between them within monocropping and intercropping fields and understand relationships of that microbiomes in plant health improvement. This project will design and implement sustainable environmental practices based on legume-cereal intercropping systems that account for the nature, impacting to global biogeosphere changes.Research funded in the frame of Horizon Europe Programme, agreement no. Project 101082289 — LEGUMINOSE

Soil management effects on soil organic matter properties and carbon sequestration (SOMPACS)

SOMPACS is a project recommended by EJP SOIL for funding under the 1st External Call "Towards Healthy, Resilient and Sustainable Agricultural Soils". The goal of this project is to assess management practices that enrich organic matter pools that are resilient to rapid microbial decomposition. The project started in 2022 as a consortium of 12 research institutions from Poland, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, UK, Italy and USA for a period of three years.Soil and vegetation samples from eight long-term experiments that differ in soil management practices (i.e., conventional vs. no-tillage; mineral vs. organic fertilization; with and without catch crop; and arable land vs. undisturbed grassland) are investigated. Study sites include: 22- and 54-year long experiments in Lithuania; 26-year long experiment in Italy; 30- and 40-year long experiments in Ireland; 30- and 46- and 100-year long experiments in Poland; and 178-year long Broadbalk experiment in Great Britain. Additional experimentation includes assessing the impact of root growth promoting amendments (commercially available humic substances, biochar and biogas digestate) on stable organic matter pools. In parallel with soil sampling, plant productivity are measured in all field experiments. This investigation is couples fields studies with small-scale experimental plots and laboratory incubations under controlled conditions. In addition to assessing basic soil properties, the following state-of-the-art analyses are conducted:SOM composition and stability by Py-GC-MS;fractionation of aggregate size classes and C pools of increasing physicochemical protection;isotopic analysis of δ13C and δ15N performed on different SOM pools;microbiological properties (community-level physiological profiling, selected functional genes involved in C and N cycles, microbiome and mycobiome analyses by next-generation sequencing, genetic diversity using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism);enzymatic activity;soil water retention and soil water repellency;mineral composition of clay fraction; (8) soil structure stability.The most resistant SOM pool (humin) are isolated by different methods (isolation vs. extraction) and examined for chemical composition and structure, using spectrometric and spectroscopic techniques (mass spectrometry, NMR, FTIR, EPR, UV-Vis-NIR, fluorescence). The carbon stocks in the soil profile will be evaluated and the carbon extractable in cold water will be determined to assess the potential carbon leaching and microbial availability. Additionally, in-field soil carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes from selected experiments is monitored.Thus far, soil samples (0-100 cm depth) were collected and the humin fraction from surface A horizon was isolated for spectroscopic studies. Crop yield and vegetation productivity was also assessed.The research was financed by NCBR (EJPSOIL/I/78/SOMPACS/2022)

Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe Have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils?

The need to provide appropriate information, technical advice and facilitation to support farmers in transitioning towards healthy soils is increasingly clear, and the role of the Agricultural Advisory Services (AAS) in this is critical. However, the transformation of AAS (plurality, commercialisation, fragmentation, decentralisation) brings new challenges for delivering advice to support soil health management. This paper asks: To what extent do agricultural advisory services have the capacity to support the transition to healthy soils across Europe? Using the ‘best fit’ framework, analytical characteristics of the AAS relevant to the research question (governance structures, management, organisational and individual capacities) were identified. Analysis of 18 semi-structured expert interviews across 6 case study countries in Europe, selected to represent a range of contexts, was undertaken. Capacities to provide soil health management (SHM) advice are constrained by funding arrangements, limited adviser training and professional development, adviser motivations and professional cultures, all determined by institutional conditions. This has resulted in a narrowing down of access and content of soil advice and a reduced capacity to support the transition in farming to healthy soils. The extent to which emerging policy and market drivers incentivise enhanced capacities in AAS is an important area for future research