Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41851125›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

The hidden role of rhizospheric viruses in promoting nitrogen fixation in soils.

Dong Zhu, Wen Zhang, Jose Luis Balcazar, Danrui Wang, Mingming Sun, Feng Hu, Josep Penuelas, Yong-Guan Zhu

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Dong Zhu *Soil Ecology Lab, Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Saline Soil Resources Utilization and Ecological Conservation, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China. dzhu@iue.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0826-6423
Wen Zhang *Soil Ecology Lab, Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Saline Soil Resources Utilization and Ecological Conservation, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
Jose Luis BalcazarCatalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA-CERCA), Girona, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6866-9347
Danrui WangSoil Ecology Lab, Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Saline Soil Resources Utilization and Ecological Conservation, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
Mingming SunSoil Ecology Lab, Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Saline Soil Resources Utilization and Ecological Conservation, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China. sunmingming@njau.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5550-6813
Feng HuSoil Ecology Lab, Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Saline Soil Resources Utilization and Ecological Conservation, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
Josep PenuelasCSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Yong-Guan ZhuState Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3861-8482

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 42277115
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Biological nitrogen fixation is a cornerstone of terrestrial nitrogen cycling, traditionally attributed to bacterial nitrogenase activity. However, the potential contribution of rhizospheric viruses remains largely unexplored. Here, we reveal the global distribution of nitrogen-fixing genes, with widespread detection of nifA, nifL, nifU, and nifH in both bacteria and viruses, and identify nifU as a viral auxiliary metabolic gene (AMG). Analysis of viral communities in rhizosphere and bulk soils cultivated with cowpea showed that viral nifU expression was significantly upregulated in rhizosphere soils. Using

Indexed as

Nitrogen FixationRhizosphereSoil MicrobiologyAzotobacterBacterial ProteinsGene Transfer, HorizontalNitrogenaseSoilBacterial ProteinsNitrogenaseSoil

Identifiers

PMID41851125
PMCPMC13149639

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.