RESEARCH FIELD

Soil Microbiology

Soil microbiology investigates the diverse communities of bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, and viruses inhabiting soils and their roles in driving biogeochemical cycles, plant health, and ecosystem functioning. Soil microbial communities are the engines of terrestrial nutrient cycling — decomposing organic matter, fixing atmospheric nitrogen, transforming phosphorus to plant-available forms, and mediating nitrification and denitrification. Mycorrhizal fungi form mutualistic symbioses with the vast majority of terrestrial plant species, extending root systems and exchanging minerals for photosynthate through hyphal networks. Soil microbiomes are critically important for soil carbon sequestration — a potential climate mitigation pathway — and for suppression of plant pathogens via biocontrol. Modern metagenomic and metatranscriptomic tools have revealed extraordinary diversity and functional redundancy. Stable isotope probing with 13C- or 15N-labelled substrates identifies active microbial guilds in situ. Funding comes from agricultural research institutes, USDA, environmental research councils, and the biocontrol industry.