ArticlePloS one2010
Turning the table: plants consume microbes as a source of nutrients.
Article in PloS one, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 173 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Differential partitioning of seed-inhabiting methylotrophs in the endosphere of wheat plants.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Outer Membrane Vesicles, Lipidome, and Biofilm Formation in the EndophyteMicroorganisms · 2025Article
- Towards Understanding the Factors Shaping the Composition and Function of theInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Bacterial network for precise plant stress detection and enhanced crop resilience.BMC bioinformatics · 2025Article
- Agroecology-based assembly and function of endophytic bacteria in seeds ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
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- Editorial: Rhizophagy and other cross-talks in rhizobiocomplex.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- The stress history of soil bacteria under organic farming enhances the growth of wheat seedlings.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Plant Beneficial Bacteria and Their Potential Applications in Vertical Farming Systems.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Root-Associated Bacteria Community Characteristics of Antarctic Plants: Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis-a Comparison.Microbial ecology · 2022Article
- Biofertilizers can enhance nitrogen use efficiency of sugarcane.Environmental microbiology · 2022Article
- Article
- Article
- Probiotic Endophytes for More Sustainable Banana Production.Microorganisms · 2021Review
- The Potential Application of Endophytes in Management of Stress from Drought and Salinity in Crop Plants.Microorganisms · 2021Review
- Plant-Microbiome Crosstalk: Dawning from Composition and Assembly of Microbial Community to Improvement of Disease Resilience in Plants.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Endophytic BacteriaBiology · 2021Article
- Chemical Interactions at the Interface of Plant Root Hair Cells and Intracellular Bacteria.Microorganisms · 2021Article
- Harnessing Bacterial Endophytes for Promotion of Plant Growth and Biotechnological Applications: An Overview.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Interactions between plants and microbes in soil, the final frontier of ecology, determine the availability of nutrients to plants and thereby primary production of terrestrial ecosystems. Nutrient cycling in soils is considered a battle between autotrophs and heterotrophs in which the latter usually outcompete the former, although recent studies have questioned the unconditional reign of microbes on nutrient cycles and the plants' dependence on microbes for breakdown of organic matter. Here we present evidence indicative of a more active role of plants in nutrient cycling than currently considered. Using fluorescent-labeled non-pathogenic and non-symbiotic strains of a bacterium and a fungus (Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively), we demonstrate that microbes enter root cells and are subsequently digested to release nitrogen that is used in shoots. Extensive modifications of root cell walls, as substantiated by cell wall outgrowth and induction of genes encoding cell wall synthesizing, loosening and degrading enzymes, may facilitate the uptake of microbes into root cells. Our study provides further evidence that the autotrophy of plants has a heterotrophic constituent which could explain the presence of root-inhabiting microbes of unknown ecological function. Our discovery has implications for soil ecology and applications including future sustainable agriculture with efficient nutrient cycles.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.