Does carbon exudation by banksia roots alter soil microbial community structure?

Edith Cowan University, Australia

Updated: 9 months ago
Location: Mount Lawley, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Deadline: ;

Project outline: Most Proteaceae, such as banksias and grevilleas, produce specialised cluster roots that mine the soil for nutrients, especially phosphorus. This mining activity allows them to live on severely nutrient-impoverished soils and involves the release of large amounts of carboxylates, typically citric acid and malic acid. These carboxylates are a ready energy source for the soil microbial community. However, the impact of this source of energy on the microbial community and how this impact might be of benefit to the plant is unknown. Using molecular fingerprinting, this project will identify the differences in the prokaryotic community structure between the soil mined by cluster roots and the neighbouring soil not mined by cluster roots. Using database searches, the types of prokaryotes present will be determined, generating hypotheses about their potential impact on the plant.

Supervisors: Professor Elizabeth Watkin, Associate Professor Patrick Finnegan (School of Biological Sciences, UWA)

Contact: Professor Elizabeth Watkin

Level: Honours/Masters

Funding: Funding available for this project. Collaboration with UWA

Preferred start date: Semester 1 2023.

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