Soil protistology rebooted: 30 fundamental questions to start with

Stefan Geisen; Edward A. D. Mitchell; David M. Wilkinson; Sina  Adl; Michael  Bonkowski; Matthew W.  Brown; Anna Maria  Fiore-Donno; Thierry J.  Heger; Vincent E.J.  Jassey; Valentyna  Krashevska; Daniel J.G.  Lahr; Katarzyna  Marcisz; Matthieu  Mulot; Richard John Payne; David  Singer; O. Roger  Anderson; Dan J.  Charman; Flemming  Ekelund; Bryan S.  Griffiths; Regin  Rønn; Alexey  Smirnov; David  Bass; Lassaad  Belbahri; Cedric  Berney; Quentin Blandenier; Antonis  Chatzinotas; Marianne  Clarholm; Micah  Dunthorn; Alan  Feest; Leonardo D.  Fernandez; Wilhelm  Foissner; Bertrand  Fournier; Eleni  Gentekaki; Michal  Hajek; Johannes  Helder; Alexandre  Jousset; Robert  Koller; Santosh  Kumar; Antonietta  La Terza; Mariusz  Lamentowicz; Yuri  Mazei; Susana S.  Santos; Christophe V.W.  Seppey; Frederick W.  Spiegel; Julia Walochnik; Anne  Winding; Enrique  Lara

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.04.001

Soil protistology rebooted: 30 fundamental questions to start with

Stefan Geisen, Edward A. D. Mitchell, David M. Wilkinson, Sina Adl , Michael Bonkowski, Matthew W. Brown, Anna Maria Fiore-Donno, Thierry J. Heger, Vincent E.J. Jassey, Valentyna Krashevska, Daniel J.G. Lahr, Katarzyna Marcisz, Matthieu Mulot, Richard John Payne, David Singer, O. Roger Anderson, Dan J. Charman, Flemming Ekelund, Bryan S. Griffiths, Regin RønnAlexey Smirnov, David Bass, Lassaad Belbahri, Cedric Berney, Quentin Blandenier, Antonis Chatzinotas, Marianne Clarholm, Micah Dunthorn, Alan Feest, Leonardo D. Fernandez, Wilhelm Foissner, Bertrand Fournier, Eleni Gentekaki, Michal Hajek, Johannes Helder, Alexandre Jousset, Robert Koller, Santosh Kumar, Antonietta La Terza, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Yuri Mazei, Susana S. Santos, Christophe V.W. Seppey, Frederick W. Spiegel , Julia Walochnik, Anne Winding, Enrique Lara

Environment and Geography

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Protists are the most diverse eukaryotes. These microbes are keystone organisms of soil ecosystems and regulate essential processes of soil fertility such as nutrient cycling and plant growth. Despite this, protists have received little scientific attention, especially compared to bacteria, fungi and nematodes in soil studies. Recent methodological advances, particularly in molecular biology techniques, have made the study of soil protists more accessible, and have created a resurgence of interest in soil protistology. This ongoing revolution now enables comprehensive investigations of the structure and functioning of soil protist communities, paving the way to a new era in soil biology. Instead of providing an exhaustive review, we provide a synthesis of research gaps that should be prioritized in future studies of soil protistology to guide this rapidly developing research area. Based on a synthesis of expert opinion we propose 30 key questions covering a broad range of topics including evolution, phylogenetics, functional ecology, macroecology, paleoecology, and methodologies. These questions highlight a diversity of topics that will establish soil protistology as a hub discipline connecting different fundamental and applied fields such as ecology, biogeography, evolution, plant-microbe interactions, agronomy, and conservation biology. We are convinced that soil protistology has the potential to be one of the most exciting frontiers in biology.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	94–103
Number of pages	10
Journal	Soil Biology and Biochemistry
Volume	111
Early online date	13 Apr 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.04.001
Publication status	Published - Aug 2017

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Biodiversity
Food web
Functional diversity
Microbial interactions
Protozoa
Soil protists

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10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.04.001

SBB- 30 Protist Questions- accepted manuscript
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. (embargo period: 12 months)
Accepted author manuscript, 7.09 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Geisen, S., Mitchell, E. A. D., Wilkinson, D. M., Adl , S., Bonkowski, M., Brown, M. W., Fiore-Donno, A. M., Heger, T. J., Jassey, V. E. J., Krashevska, V., Lahr, D. J. G., Marcisz, K., Mulot, M., Payne, R. J., Singer, D., Anderson, O. R., Charman, D. J., Ekelund, F., Griffiths, B. S., ... Lara, E. (2017). Soil protistology rebooted: 30 fundamental questions to start with. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 111, 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.04.001

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title = "Soil protistology rebooted: 30 fundamental questions to start with",

abstract = "Protists are the most diverse eukaryotes. These microbes are keystone organisms of soil ecosystems and regulate essential processes of soil fertility such as nutrient cycling and plant growth. Despite this, protists have received little scientific attention, especially compared to bacteria, fungi and nematodes in soil studies. Recent methodological advances, particularly in molecular biology techniques, have made the study of soil protists more accessible, and have created a resurgence of interest in soil protistology. This ongoing revolution now enables comprehensive investigations of the structure and functioning of soil protist communities, paving the way to a new era in soil biology. Instead of providing an exhaustive review, we provide a synthesis of research gaps that should be prioritized in future studies of soil protistology to guide this rapidly developing research area. Based on a synthesis of expert opinion we propose 30 key questions covering a broad range of topics including evolution, phylogenetics, functional ecology, macroecology, paleoecology, and methodologies. These questions highlight a diversity of topics that will establish soil protistology as a hub discipline connecting different fundamental and applied fields such as ecology, biogeography, evolution, plant-microbe interactions, agronomy, and conservation biology. We are convinced that soil protistology has the potential to be one of the most exciting frontiers in biology.",

keywords = "Biodiversity, Food web, Functional diversity, Microbial interactions, Protozoa, Soil protists",

author = "Stefan Geisen and Mitchell, {Edward A. D.} and Wilkinson, {David M.} and Sina Adl and Michael Bonkowski and Brown, {Matthew W.} and Fiore-Donno, {Anna Maria} and Heger, {Thierry J.} and Jassey, {Vincent E.J.} and Valentyna Krashevska and Lahr, {Daniel J.G.} and Katarzyna Marcisz and Matthieu Mulot and Payne, {Richard John} and David Singer and Anderson, {O. Roger} and Charman, {Dan J.} and Flemming Ekelund and Griffiths, {Bryan S.} and Regin R{\o}nn and Alexey Smirnov and David Bass and Lassaad Belbahri and Cedric Berney and Quentin Blandenier and Antonis Chatzinotas and Marianne Clarholm and Micah Dunthorn and Alan Feest and Fernandez, {Leonardo D.} and Wilhelm Foissner and Bertrand Fournier and Eleni Gentekaki and Michal Hajek and Johannes Helder and Alexandre Jousset and Robert Koller and Santosh Kumar and {La Terza}, Antonietta and Mariusz Lamentowicz and Yuri Mazei and Santos, {Susana S.} and Seppey, {Christophe V.W.} and Spiegel, {Frederick W.} and Julia Walochnik and Anne Winding and Enrique Lara",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2017 Elsevier Ltd. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher{\textquoteright}s self-archiving policy.",

year = "2017",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.04.001",

language = "English",

volume = "111",

pages = "94–103",

journal = "Soil Biology and Biochemistry",

issn = "0038-0717",

publisher = "Elsevier",

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Geisen, S, Mitchell, EAD, Wilkinson, DM, Adl , S, Bonkowski, M, Brown, MW, Fiore-Donno, AM, Heger, TJ, Jassey, VEJ, Krashevska, V, Lahr, DJG, Marcisz, K, Mulot, M, Payne, RJ, Singer, D, Anderson, OR, Charman, DJ, Ekelund, F, Griffiths, BS, Rønn, R, Smirnov, A, Bass, D, Belbahri, L, Berney, C, Blandenier, Q, Chatzinotas, A, Clarholm, M, Dunthorn, M, Feest, A, Fernandez, LD, Foissner, W, Fournier, B, Gentekaki, E, Hajek, M, Helder, J, Jousset, A, Koller, R, Kumar, S, La Terza, A, Lamentowicz, M, Mazei, Y, Santos, SS, Seppey, CVW, Spiegel , FW, Walochnik, J, Winding, A & Lara, E 2017, 'Soil protistology rebooted: 30 fundamental questions to start with', Soil Biology and Biochemistry, vol. 111, pp. 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.04.001

TY - JOUR

T1 - Soil protistology rebooted

T2 - 30 fundamental questions to start with

AU - Geisen, Stefan

AU - Mitchell, Edward A. D.

AU - Wilkinson, David M.

AU - Adl , Sina

AU - Bonkowski, Michael

AU - Brown, Matthew W.

AU - Fiore-Donno, Anna Maria

AU - Heger, Thierry J.

AU - Jassey, Vincent E.J.

AU - Krashevska, Valentyna

AU - Lahr, Daniel J.G.

AU - Marcisz, Katarzyna

AU - Mulot, Matthieu

AU - Payne, Richard John

AU - Singer, David

AU - Anderson, O. Roger

AU - Charman, Dan J.

AU - Ekelund, Flemming

AU - Griffiths, Bryan S.

AU - Rønn, Regin

AU - Smirnov, Alexey

AU - Bass, David

AU - Belbahri, Lassaad

AU - Berney, Cedric

AU - Blandenier, Quentin

AU - Chatzinotas, Antonis

AU - Clarholm, Marianne

AU - Dunthorn, Micah

AU - Feest, Alan

AU - Fernandez, Leonardo D.

AU - Foissner, Wilhelm

AU - Fournier, Bertrand

AU - Gentekaki, Eleni

AU - Hajek, Michal

AU - Helder, Johannes

AU - Jousset, Alexandre

AU - Koller, Robert

AU - Kumar, Santosh

AU - La Terza, Antonietta

AU - Lamentowicz, Mariusz

AU - Mazei, Yuri

AU - Santos, Susana S.

AU - Seppey, Christophe V.W.

AU - Spiegel , Frederick W.

AU - Walochnik, Julia

AU - Winding, Anne

AU - Lara, Enrique

PY - 2017/8

Y1 - 2017/8

N2 - Protists are the most diverse eukaryotes. These microbes are keystone organisms of soil ecosystems and regulate essential processes of soil fertility such as nutrient cycling and plant growth. Despite this, protists have received little scientific attention, especially compared to bacteria, fungi and nematodes in soil studies. Recent methodological advances, particularly in molecular biology techniques, have made the study of soil protists more accessible, and have created a resurgence of interest in soil protistology. This ongoing revolution now enables comprehensive investigations of the structure and functioning of soil protist communities, paving the way to a new era in soil biology. Instead of providing an exhaustive review, we provide a synthesis of research gaps that should be prioritized in future studies of soil protistology to guide this rapidly developing research area. Based on a synthesis of expert opinion we propose 30 key questions covering a broad range of topics including evolution, phylogenetics, functional ecology, macroecology, paleoecology, and methodologies. These questions highlight a diversity of topics that will establish soil protistology as a hub discipline connecting different fundamental and applied fields such as ecology, biogeography, evolution, plant-microbe interactions, agronomy, and conservation biology. We are convinced that soil protistology has the potential to be one of the most exciting frontiers in biology.

AB - Protists are the most diverse eukaryotes. These microbes are keystone organisms of soil ecosystems and regulate essential processes of soil fertility such as nutrient cycling and plant growth. Despite this, protists have received little scientific attention, especially compared to bacteria, fungi and nematodes in soil studies. Recent methodological advances, particularly in molecular biology techniques, have made the study of soil protists more accessible, and have created a resurgence of interest in soil protistology. This ongoing revolution now enables comprehensive investigations of the structure and functioning of soil protist communities, paving the way to a new era in soil biology. Instead of providing an exhaustive review, we provide a synthesis of research gaps that should be prioritized in future studies of soil protistology to guide this rapidly developing research area. Based on a synthesis of expert opinion we propose 30 key questions covering a broad range of topics including evolution, phylogenetics, functional ecology, macroecology, paleoecology, and methodologies. These questions highlight a diversity of topics that will establish soil protistology as a hub discipline connecting different fundamental and applied fields such as ecology, biogeography, evolution, plant-microbe interactions, agronomy, and conservation biology. We are convinced that soil protistology has the potential to be one of the most exciting frontiers in biology.

KW - Biodiversity

KW - Food web

KW - Functional diversity

KW - Microbial interactions

KW - Protozoa

KW - Soil protists

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85017536108&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.04.001

DO - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.04.001

M3 - Review article

SN - 0038-0717

VL - 111

SP - 94

EP - 103

JO - Soil Biology and Biochemistry

JF - Soil Biology and Biochemistry

ER -

Soil protistology rebooted: 30 fundamental questions to start with

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this