Abstract
Abstract Biochar can enhance soil health and plant productivity, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here we tackled this question through the lens of the rhizosphere using wheat as a model plant. We examined the impact of four feedstocks (corn stover, cattle manure, pine sawdust, or wheat straw) and two application rates. Biochar modulated root metabolism, where amino acid metabolism was the most common, leading to cascade effects on a wide range of secondary metabolites, including many plant signaling molecules involved in plant–microbe interactions. All biochar treatments increased rhizosphere microbial diversity, altered community composition, enhanced microbial interactions, and resulted in potential functional changes. Increased Burkholderiales (denitrifying bacteria) abundance and decreased Thermoplasmata (archaeal methanogens) abundance could explain biochar’s widely reported effects of mitigating nitrous oxide and methane. Biochar enhanced positive correlations among microbes and network modularity, suggesting local adaptation through synergism and the formation of modules of functionally interrelated taxa. A diversity of keystone taxa from dominant and non-dominant phyla emerged, including those known to mediate methane, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling. Treatment-specific alterations also occurred, and biochar feedstock choice exerted greater influence than application rate. Wheat biochar at 0.25% showed the strongest and distinct modulating effects, resulting in orchestrated changes in root metabolome and rhizosphere microbiome, especially those relevant to plant–microbe interactions and plant growth promotion. Our work provides new insights into the potential of top-down rhizosphere microbiome engineering through biochar-based reprogramming of root-microbe interactions. Graphical Abstract
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Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar changed wheat root metabolism, most commonly amino acid metabolism, with downstream changes in secondary metabolites.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivumt0 - Treatment
- Biochare0
- Outcome
- root metabolisme0
- Direction
- modulatede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Biochar modulated root metabolism, where amino acid metabolism was the most common, leading to cascade effects on a wide range of secondary metabolites”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
All biochar treatments increased rhizosphere microbial diversity.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- biochar treatmentse0
- Outcome
- rhizosphere microbial diversitye0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“All biochar treatments increased rhizosphere microbial diversity”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
All biochar treatments altered rhizosphere microbial community composition.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- biochar treatmentse0
- Outcome
- community compositione0
- Direction
- alterede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“All biochar treatments increased rhizosphere microbial diversity, altered community composition”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
All biochar treatments enhanced rhizosphere microbial interactions.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- biochar treatmentse0
- Outcome
- microbial interactionse0
- Direction
- enhancede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“All biochar treatments increased rhizosphere microbial diversity, altered community composition, enhanced microbial interactions”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar treatments resulted in potential microbial functional changes.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- biochar treatmentse0
- Outcome
- potential functional changese0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“All biochar treatments increased rhizosphere microbial diversity, altered community composition, enhanced microbial interactions, and resulted in potential functional changes”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar increased Burkholderiales abundance in the wheat rhizosphere.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- Burkholderiales (denitrifying bacteria) abundancee0
- Direction
- Increasede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Increased Burkholderiales (denitrifying bacteria) abundance”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar decreased Thermoplasmata abundance in the wheat rhizosphere.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- Thermoplasmata (archaeal methanogens) abundancee0
- Direction
- decreasede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“decreased Thermoplasmata (archaeal methanogens) abundance”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar increased positive correlations among microbes and network modularity.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- Biochare0
- Outcome
- positive correlations among microbes and network modularitye0
- Direction
- enhancede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Biochar enhanced positive correlations among microbes and network modularity”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Keystone taxa from dominant and non-dominant phyla emerged in the wheat rhizosphere.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- keystone taxa from dominant and non-dominant phylae0
- Direction
- emergede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“A diversity of keystone taxa from dominant and non-dominant phyla emerged”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar feedstock choice had a greater influence than application rate on treatment-specific changes.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- biochar feedstock choicee0
- Outcome
- Treatment-specific alterationse0
- Direction
- greater influencee0
- Comparator
- application ratee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Treatment-specific alterations also occurred, and biochar feedstock choice exerted greater influence than application rate”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Wheat biochar at 0.25% had the strongest distinct effects on wheat root metabolome and rhizosphere microbiome.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivume0
- Treatment
- Wheat biochar at 0.25%e0
- Outcome
- root metabolome and rhizosphere microbiomee0
- Direction
- strongeste0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Wheat biochar at 0.25% showed the strongest and distinct modulating effects, resulting in orchestrated changes in root metabolome and rhizosphere microbiome”
The same questions in other papers
biochar · soil: biology · Triticum aestivum (wheat)Positive and negative results
13 papers in the same direction as this paper · 2 in the opposite direction · 1 reporting no difference from an alternative
- no effect
- no effect
- no effect
13 papers more in this group
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