Johns Hopkins University geneticists and a small army of researchers across the country, including students, are working to catalog the vast and largely unknown soil microbiome of the United States.

A new study reveals that soil acidity plays a critical role in determining how wheat competes with soil microorganisms for ...

Key Points High-quality soil should have good drainage and tilth, a dark color, a pleasant smell, and signs of life.Avoid ...

New research shows that when it comes to colonizing plants, microorganisms from seeds have more staying power than microorganisms from the soil. "Ever since I started working on plant microbiomes, ...

Prolonged droughts followed by sudden bursts of rainfall -- how do desert soil bacteria manage to survive such harsh conditions? This long-debated question has now been answered by microbiologists.

As the planet has warmed, scientists have long been concerned about the potential for harmful greenhouse gasses to seep out of thawing Arctic permafrost. Recent estimates suggest that by 2100 the ...

Female bumblebees visiting flowers of Chamaecrista latistipula in the wild. The insect makes internal parts of the flower vibrate in order to extract protein-rich pollen grains, which it carries away ...

Researchers discovered that microbes respire three times as much CO2 from lignin carbons compared to cellulose carbons. When soil microbes eat plant matter, the digested food follows one of two ...

Like any good animal, we sense the change of seasons through a hundred subtle clues. Leaves change and shed, becoming crispy piles underfoot. Geese cross the bright sky. Other signs of winter are ...