ReviewThe ISME journal2024
Mechanisms and implications of bacterial-fungal competition for soil resources.
Review in The ISME journal, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 126 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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
126 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Ecosystem-Dependent Responses of Microbial Necromass Carbon to Warming Are Governed by the Balance Between Necromass Formation and Decomposition.Global change biology · 2026Pooled it
- Priming Effects on Soil Organic Matter Mineralization by Carbon Substrates: A Global Meta-Analysis.Global change biology · 2026Pooled it
- Critical thresholds for co-benefits of carbon accumulation and biodiversity conservation under global nitrogen enrichment.Nature communications · 2026Pooled it
- Crop rotation differentially increases soil bacterial and fungal diversities in global croplands: a meta-analysis.Nature communications · 2025Pooled it
- Rising global temperatures reduce soil microbial diversity over the long term.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Pooled it
- Harnessing plant-microbe interactions: strategies for enhancing resilience and nutrient acquisition for sustainable agriculture.Frontiers in plant science · 2025Pooled it
- Straw return is associated with improved morel cultivation performance and with changes in soil quality and microbial communities.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- Pseudomonas atacamensis SJA1 enhances root development and phosphorus accumulation in rice under organic fertilization.Archives of microbiology · 2026Article
- Temporal and vertical dynamics of microbial communities during open-pit coal mine topsoil stockpiling in a black soil (mollisol) region of Northeast China.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- TR4-triggered recruitment of suppressive rhizomicrobiome enhances Fusarium wilt resistance in banana.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- Drivers of Soil Community Composition in Apple Orchards: Insights From Environmental Metabarcoding.Environmental microbiology reports · 2026Article
- Spatial Variation in Mycosphere Soil Bacterial Communities ofMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Topographic decoupling of tree-mortality disturbances drives contrasting soil carbon fates via divergent microbial strategies.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Contrasting the Microbial Communities in Rhizosphere and Bulk Soils Across DifferentMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Variation in Soil Bacterial and Fungal Diversity, Community Composition, and Co-Occurrence Patterns Across Nearshore Islands in the Northern South China Sea.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Host-Dependent Endophytes as a Resilient Biological Reservoir: Niche-Specific Expansion and Holobiont Reassembly in Grapevine.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Nitrogen Sources Reshape Microbial Community Assembly and Interaction Networks to Regulate Straw Decomposition and Carbon Release in Cropland Soils of the North China Plain.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Hydrological Regime Shifts Reshape Assembly Dynamics of Multi-Trophic Microbial Communities in Pumping Station Forebays.Environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Effects of Combined Application of Mushroom Residue and Chemical Fertilizer on Greenhouse Soil Quality and Microbial Community Structure and Function.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Coinoculation of Pantoea phytobeneficialis PF55 and Trichoderma harzianum ESALQ 1306 enhances soil microbial activity and agronomic performance in onion.Archives of microbiology · 2026Article
66 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Elucidating complex interactions between bacteria and fungi that determine microbial community structure, composition, and functions in soil, as well as regulate carbon (C) and nutrient fluxes, is crucial to understand biogeochemical cycles. Among the various interactions, competition for resources is the main factor determining the adaptation and niche differentiation between these two big microbial groups in soil. This is because C and energy limitations for microbial growth are a rule rather than an exception. Here, we review the C and energy demands of bacteria and fungi-the two major kingdoms in soil-the mechanisms of their competition for these and other resources, leading to niche differentiation, and the global change impacts on this competition. The normalized microbial utilization preference showed that bacteria are 1.4-5 times more efficient in the uptake of simple organic compounds as substrates, whereas fungi are 1.1-4.1 times more effective in utilizing complex compounds. Accordingly, bacteria strongly outcompete fungi for simple substrates, while fungi take advantage of complex compounds. Bacteria also compete with fungi for the products released during the degradation of complex substrates. Based on these specifics, we differentiated spatial, temporal, and chemical niches for these two groups in soil. The competition will increase under the main five global changes including elevated CO2, N deposition, soil acidification, global warming, and drought. Elevated CO2, N deposition, and warming increase bacterial dominance, whereas soil acidification and drought increase fungal competitiveness.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.