丛枝菌根提高植物耐盐性的研究进展

近年来,土地盐渍化越来越多的引起人们的关注,已成为最常见的农业问题之一,其对人类造成的危害主要是使农作物减产甚至绝收,并间接造成生态环境恶化。研究表明丛枝菌根真菌(Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi,AMF)在盐胁迫下能与很多种植物共生,能够提高植物的耐盐性,促进植物在盐胁迫中生长。因此,探索AMF缓解盐胁迫对植物的危害是近年来生态学和农业生产中的热点问题。综述了AMF在植物干物质的积累、营养吸收、渗透调节、抗氧化酶系统、叶绿素浓度、水分状况、植物激素信号以及一些耐盐相关基因方面国内外最新的研究成果,并对利用AMF提高植物耐盐性相关研究提出了展望,以期为盐碱地的改良及农业生产提供参考依据。     

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria-alleviators of abiotic stresses in soil: A review

With the continuous increase in human population,there is widespread usage of chemical fertilizers that are responsible for introducing abiotic stresses in agricultural crop lands.Abiotic stresses are major constraints for crop yield and global food security and therefore require an immediate response.The implementation of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria(PGPR)into the agricultural production system can be a profitable alternative because of its efficiency in plant growth regulation and abiotic stress management.These bacteria have the potential to promote plant growth and to aid in the management of plant diseases and abiotic stresses in the soil through production of bacterial phytohormones and associated metabolites as well as through significant root morphological changes.These changes result in improved plant-water relations and nutritional status in plants and stimulate plants’defensive mechanisms to overcome unfavorable environmental conditions.Here,we describe the significance of plant-microbe interactions,highlighting the role of PGPR,bacterial phytohormones,and bacterial metabolites in relieving abiotic environmental stress in soil.Further research is necessary to gather in-depth knowledge on PGPR-associated mechanisms and plant-microbe interactions in order to pave a way for field-scale application of beneficial rhizobacteria,with the aim of building a healthy and sustainable agricultural system.Therefore,this review aims to emphasize the role of PGPR in growth promotion and management of abiotic soil stress with the goal of developing an eco-friendly and cost-effective strategy for future agricultural sustainability.     

Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition Research Under Field Conditions: Basic Principles and Methodology

In the agricultural science, soil fertility and plant nutrition have played an important role during the 20th century in increasing crop yields. In the 21st century, importance of this field is still expanding due to the limitations of natural resources (land and water), sustainable agriculture, and concern about environmental pollution. In this context, increasing crop yields will be associated with rational use of chemical fertilizers, increasing use of organic sources of nutrients, recycling of plant available nutrients, and exploiting genetic potential of crop species or cultivars within species in efficient use of nutrients. Hence, in the future, increasing crop yields will be a challenge for agricultural and soil scientists. Conducting fertilizer field trials for adequate sources, methods, rates, timing of application along with crop species or genotypes within species, under different agroecological regions are necessary to generate data and their use for achieving maximum economic crop yields. The objective of this article is to present basic concepts and discuss methodology of soil fertility and plant nutrition research under field conditions.     

植物促生菌的功能及在可持续农业中的应用

全球气候变化以及人口增长加剧了农业生产中各种生物（如病原菌）和非生物（如干旱、盐渍、高温等）胁迫,并通过影响植物形态、生理生化特征和代谢功能等阻碍植物的生长、发育和生产力提升,最终影响农作物的产量和品质并严重威胁着农业的可持续发展。随着现代农业的大力发展,有益微生物因其能够改良土壤质量、提高土壤肥力、提升农作物抗胁迫性能和增产提质的功效显著而备受关注。简要概述了植物促生菌（Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria,PGPB）的种类和施用效应,重点剖析了PGPB产生植物生长激素、固氮作用、加强对营养物质的吸收利用（溶磷、解钾和合成铁载体）、缓解生物和非生物胁迫以及调节植物根系构型和根际微生物群落结构等促生和抗胁迫机制,系统梳理了近年来运用于现代农业中的PGPB菌剂制备和施用方式的前沿科学技术,并进一步讨论了PGPB在未来农业生产中的应用前景以及研究方向。     

植物的镍素营养

本文从分析土壤中镍的来源着手,探讨镍营养对植物生长发育的影响和镍污染及其危害,提出实践中不能盲目提倡依靠增施镍肥来促进作物生长发育,提高产量。     

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for salinity stress: Anti-stress role and mechanisms

Salinity stress is considered one of the most harmful environmental plant stresses, as it reduces irrigated land crop production by over 20%worldwide.Hence, it is imperative to develop salt-tolerant crops in addition to understanding various mechanisms enabling plant growth under saline stress conditions.Recently, a novel biological approach that aims to address salinity stress has gained momentum, which involves the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in plant-microbe interactions. It has ...     

Nutrient use efficiency (NUE) for sustainable wheat production: a review

Abstract

In the last five decades, nutrient applications to farmlands have significantly improved crop yield and public awareness about nutrient use efficiency (NUE). The crop production system is nutrient-dependent in unfertile lands. The ideal management applications are used to enhance the NUE i.e. application of nutrients at right place and time with right rate. However, there must be a balance among the crop productivity and NUE. The maximum NUE is always observed where nutrient supply is lowest. The use of vital plant nutrients is significant for agricultural sustainability. However, the application of essential nutrient is under the influence of plant, climate, and economic conditions of farmers. In general agro-climatic conditions, the crop has fertilizer or NUE below 50%. The lower NUE is directly proportional to excess stability of nutrients, which may cause environmental pollution. Enhancement in NUE is crucial in agro-economical point of view. Improvement in plant nutrition e.g. P, N, and K, is the need of the hour to achieve food and fiber. In this review, we focused on discussing the significance of NUE and how NUE can be enhanced. There should be a balance among optimum NUE and excellent crop production.     

Soil and Plant Analysis Council: A Model for Scientific Innovation,Education, and Development

Soil and plant analysis has been a major contribution to the development of the agricultural sciences and indirectly to sustaining mankind. The advances that have occurred in the various disciplines in soil science, agronomy, and crop science would have been impossible without parallel advances in analytical technology. Despite the many divisions in the journals of the Soil Science Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, and American Society of Agronomy, none is solely devoted to the discipline of analysis of soils and plants and related areas. However, the Soil and Plant Analysis Council (SPAC) fills that critical void because it is an international society of scientists, educators, and private and public organizations with a common interest in promoting analysis of soils, plants, water, manure, and fertilizers. The primary emphasis is on nutrients in relation to crop production and increasing environmental issues. The main goal of SPAC is to provide leadership in the development and dissemination of methodology, interpretation, and application of analysis for efficient resource management and environmental protection. Its activities include publications (methods handbooks, symposia and workshop proceedings, newsletter), liaising with national agencies and commercial organizations to standardize and improve analytical procedures, maintenance of a laboratory directory, and holding international symposia. The Council has played a significant role in expanding the breadth, depth, and scope of analytical technologies in North America as well as internationally.     

The Effect of Phosphorus,Mucuna, and Nitrogen on the Biomass,Leaf Area Index,and Foliar Nutrient Content of Maize on a Depleted Sandy Loam Soil in Zimbabwe

Sufficient nutrient levels in leaves of crops have substantial effects on plant growth, development, and grain yield, as it is a fundamental constituent of many leaf cell components. The effect of phosphorus (P), mucuna management options, and nitrogen (N) on the biomass, leaf area index (LAI) and leaf nutrient content of maize on a depleted sandy loam soil in Zimbabwe were investigated. The experimental design was a split-split-plot with two P rates, four mucuna management options, and four N treatments (applied to a subsequent maize crop). Biomass, LAI, and foliar N, P, potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) in the subsequent maize crop were determined. A significant three-way interaction (P < 0.05) between mucuna management options, N rates, and time was observed in terms of biomass production and all nutrients in the leaves of the subsequent maize crop.     

施肥对设施土壤及作物生育的影响研究进展

该文综述了施肥措施对设施土壤及作物品质、产量的影响，指出有机肥与无机肥合理配施对土壤的可持续性利用的重要性，而过量施肥(有机肥或化肥)或偏施氮肥均导致土壤、植物养分平衡失调，作物产量和品质下降。     

施肥对设施土壤及作物生育的影响研究进展

该文综述了施肥措施对设施土壤及作物品质、产量的影响,指出有机肥与无机肥合理配施对土壤的可持续性利用的重要性,而过量施肥(有机肥或化肥)或偏施氮肥均导致土壤、植物养分平衡失调,作物产量和品质下降。     

Combination of agricultural waste compost and biofertilizer improves yield and enhances the sustainability of a pepper field

Application of plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) has been considered as an environmentally friendly method for crop yield promotion as well as plant disease management. Efforts have been devoted to unraveling mechanisms involved in bacteria–plant and bacteria–pathogen interactions. However, little is known on the effect of the interaction among PGPR, soil, and plant. We compared growth and yield promotion capacity of biofertilizer Ning Shield, a consortium of bacterial preparation used as a biofertilizer (BF), and its mixture with compost of agricultural waste including spent substrate of Pleurotus ostreatus (SSP)/Volvariella volvacea (SSV), chicken manure (CM), and inorganic fertilizer (IOF) in a pepper field, respectively. The disease control efficacy, pepper fruit preservation time, and nutrients were also determined. Soil nutrient parameters including organic matter and available NPK of treatments were assayed before and after one growth season. All of the mixture of BF+organic compost treatment significantly enhanced the yield and quality of pepper fruit. Moreover, disease control capacity was promoted by the mixture of BF+organic compost, with BF+SSV reaching the highest control efficacy of 81% on 60th day after transplanting, and remaining 76% at the 105^th day. The BF+SSV treatment showed soil fertility retention ability with higher soil nutrient contents after one growth season of pepper. This study provides evidence that, when combined with organic fertilizers such as spent mushroom substrate compost, beneficial microbes have the ability to promote plant growth and yield as well as suppress plant disease by sustaining soil fertility through complex bacteria–soil–plant interaction.     

抑菌剂浇施与不均匀施肥对玉米马铃薯生长和产量的影响

农业生产中,肥料和抑菌性农药施用是两种重要的农业生产技术。在施肥过程中,点状和条状施肥是主要的施肥方式,易导致作物生长期内土壤养分以斑块状分布,因此根系趋肥性对农田中作物获取养分具有重要性。而在施用抑菌性农药时,药剂能够通过淋溶等过程进入土体中,对土壤生态环境和根-土过程产生直接或间接的影响。然而目前有关农药施用是否影响作物根系趋肥性,进而改变产量表现还不清楚。本研究选用旱地主要粮食作物玉米和马铃薯为研究对象,通过等量肥料下隔行施用的方式构建土壤养分斑块,在此基础上进行广谱性杀菌剂浇施土壤,研究抑菌性农药对作物利用异质性养分的影响。两年的大田试验数据表明,一定程度上,抑菌剂浇施和隔行施肥能够显著地影响作物的植株生物量、产量,根系生物量及分布,且对玉米生物量影响具显著交互效应,表现为隔行施肥对生物量的显著提高发生在抑菌剂浇施条件下,而抑菌剂对玉米生物量的提高则主要表现在隔行施肥条件下。同时,抑菌剂浇施能够提高作物的根系觅养精确度,其中在马铃薯上达到显著水平,表明抑菌剂浇施对作物适应土壤养分斑块具有一定的促进作用。当然,抑菌农药和养分斑块在影响作物生长过程中的显著性受作物类型和种植年份的影响,具有复杂性。因此,进一步针对不同作物、生态环境和栽培措施,探讨抑菌剂农药在作物适应养分斑块中的作用以及对作物根系趋肥的影响机制,对于了解农药施用对化肥利用的影响具有潜在的价值。     

Effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer on growth,herbage and oil yield of irrigated palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinii [roxb.] wats. var. motia burk) in a semi-arid tropical climate

The world's agricultural production is increasing by 1 to 2 per cent annually and has been enough to satisfy the growing world population's need for food. Breeding, fertilisation and crop protection have decidedly contributed to that progress in productivity. But since the 1960s, agriculture has been more and more conceived by the public as an environment-contaminating industry. The public is concerned about water contamination with nitrate as a result of the use of fertilisers, and about harmful effects of chemical plant protection products on soil, water, air, animals and wild plants. The public discussion has not remained without consequences. Sustainability of development has become a central political objective in all spheres of social life, and in all world regions. Sustainable development concerns economic, ecological as well as social objectives, and is also the guideline for a renovation of agriculture. Any concepts and strategies integrating environmental aspects into agricultural production are linked with the objective of sustainable development. Discussion on sustainable agriculture has become more concrete on the basis of the Brundtland Report and Agenda 21 , as well as the various follow-up meetings of the 1992 Conference of Rio. Although efforts towards sustainable development in agriculture encounter widespread scepticism, clear progress is to be noted since that discussion has intensified. Farmers have paid more attention to new farming practices. Environmental aspects now play an important role when extension services advise farmers on fertilisation and crop protection. Research has contributed essentially to the change in agriculture towards sustainable production. Sustainability in agriculture has also been expressed in new legal regulations. Principles of good professional practice in applying fertilisers, as it is required by the Fertilisers Act from the year 1989, have been spelled out more clearly in a legal regulation issued on 26 January 1996 (Federal Law Gazette part I of 06 February 1996, p. 118). Principles of good professional practice in crop protection were published in Bundesanzeiger (Federal Gazette) No. 220 a of 21 November 1998. Principles of integrated crop protection were first discussed by representatives of agriculture, environment protection offices and researchers at a workshop at Biologische Bundesanstalt für Land- und Forstwirtschaft (BBA, Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry) in Kleinmachnow on 23° March 2000. The debate on sustainability centres around the aspects of economic and social efficiency of measures taken, and their effects on the environment. The following article deals with some basic aspects of efficiency on the one hand, and effects/emission on the environment on the other, of fertilisers and crop protection products as important input factors in agriculture. Crop husbandry always is an interference with nature. The Lüneburger Heide cropping region is a memorial of ecologically out-dated land management. Today, sustainable and at the same time efficient agriculture can only be realised with modern methods based on sound knowledge. This includes mineral fertilisation and chemical crop protection. Cropping permanently draws nutrients from the soil-plant system. They have to be refilled by fertilisation. If no fertilising measures are taken at all, the humus layer of the soil declines and soil degrades. The decline in fertility will result in yield losses of between 70 and 90%. In contrast, combination of organic and mineral fertilisers has continually added to soil fertility. This is reflected in the humus content of the soil, which is by about a quarter higher than it was a hundred years ago. Farmers resorting solely to mineral fertilisation produce yields lower by 5-10% than those combining mineral and organic fertilisers. If only organic fertilisers are used, this may reduce yields by between 10 and 40%, depending on the site. Unwanted side-effects of fertilisation (such as leaching of nitrates) may be reduced to a tolerable level by precise input of nutrients, improved methods such as precise fertiliser input depending on the condition of certain field patches, and by integrated crop protection, which relies on synergetic effects of various measures. Germany has for these reasons witnessed a relaxation of environmental pressure from excessive nutrient input. If crop protection measures were abandoned, pests and diseases would reduce yields by between 40 and 80 per cent. Our own trials about energy input-output proportions have shown a ratio of 1:4.6 with use of fertilisers (100kg N/ha), and a ratio of 1:8.6 with use of fertiliser and chemical plant protection products. The risk potential of modern chemical plant protection products has permanently decreased over the past few decades and is generally about one tenth of the values of 15 years ago. Integrated crop protection, which combines various methods of crop protection and reduces the use of chemical crop protection products to a necessary minimum, is the "optimal solution for the future" and "contributes to the sustainability of agriculture", as it is said in the Agenda 21 programme adopted by the 1992 environmental conference in Rio.     

作物生长模型的应用研究进展

作物生长模型不仅能够进行单点尺度上作物生长发育的动态模拟,而且能够从系统角度评价作物生长状态与环境要素的关系。本文通过梳理当前作物生长模型应用的诸多研究成果,剖析模型在气候变化对农业生产影响研究、作物生长模型区域应用中的关键问题,总结了当前以作物生长模型为核心的农业决策支持系统开发的研究情况,意在促进作物生长模型在生态、农业、区域气候资源和气候变化等研究中更广泛地应用。结果表明,作物生长模型在国内外的研究与应用广泛而深入,在气候变化背景下,应用作物生长模型进行历史时期气候条件和农业气象灾害对作物生产状况和产量的影响研究已相当广泛且相对成熟。利用全球气候模式（GCM）或区域气候模式（RCM）构建未来气候变化情景,再与作物生长模型耦合已发展成为评估未来气候变化对农业生产影响的重要手段。通过集成与整合多作物生长模型、多气候模式集合模拟、优化气候模拟数据订正方法可有效降低气候变化对农业生产影响评估的不确定性。遥感数据同化技术能够将站点模型运用到区域尺度上评价不同环境因子对农业生产的影响,拓宽了作物生长模型的应用尺度范围并有效提高作物产量估算的精度。以作物生长模型为核心的农业决策支持系统的研究与应用越来越多元化,是辅助农业生产管理和决策的重要工具。然而,由于作物生态系统的复杂性,作物生长模型模拟结果仍存在很大的不确定性,今后对作物生长机理及过程间耦合机制的探索还需加强,以便进一步完善和改进模型,促进作物生长模型更广泛地应用。     

Changes in soil carbon and crop yield over 60 years in the Zurich Organic Fertilization Experiment,following land‐use change from grassland to cropland

Changes in land‐use and agricultural management affect soil organic C (SOC) storage and soil fertility. Grassland to cropland conversion is often accompanied by SOC losses. However, fertilization, crop rotation, and crop residue management can offset some SOC losses or even convert arable soils into C sinks. This paper presents the first assessment of changes in SOC stocks and crop yields in a 60‐year field trial, the Zurich Organic Fertilization Experiment A493 (ZOFE) in Switzerland. The experiment comprises 12 treatments with different organic, inorganic and combined fertilization regimes. Since conversion to arable land use in 1949, all treatments have lost SOC at annual rates of 0.10–0.25 t C ha^?1, with estimated mean annual C inputs from organic fertilizers and aboveground and belowground plant residues of 0.6–2.4 t C ha^?1. In all treatments, SOC losses are still in progress, indicating that a new equilibrium has not yet been reached. Crop yields have responded sensitively to advances in plant breeding and in fertilization. However, in ZOFE high yields can only be ensured when mineral fertilizer is applied at rates typical for modern agriculture, with yields of main crops (winter wheat, maize, potatoes, clover‐grass ley) decreasing by 25–50% when manure without additional mineral fertilizer is applied. ZOFE shows that land‐use change from non‐intensively managed grassland to cropland leads to soil C losses of 15–40%, even in rotations including legumes and intercrops, improved agricultural management and organic fertilizer application.     

The effects of potassium fertilization on water‐use efficiency in crop plants

The supplies of water and nitrogen to a plant during its critical stages of growth are the main factors that define crop yield. A crop experiences irregular water deficits during its life cycle in rain‐fed agriculture. An effective anti‐stress‐oriented approach therefore ought to focus on increasing the units of water productivity. The main objective of this conceptual review is to confirm that adequate K management can be used as an important tool to alleviate the negative effects of water deficit on plant growth, yield‐component formation, and yield. The French and Schultz approach of using the water‐limited yield (WLY) was modified in this review into a graphical form and was used to discriminate between yield fractions that depended on the volume of transpired water from those that were induced by K fertilizer. By using this method, it was possible to demonstrate the extent of several crop (winter wheat, spring triticale, maize, sugar beet) responses to the K supply. Yield increases resulting from K application mostly appeared under conditions of mild water deficit. As described for sugar beet, finding the critical period of crop K sensitivity is a decisive step in understanding its impact on water‐use efficiency. It has been shown that an insufficient supply of K during crucial stages in the yield formation of cereals (wheat, spring triticale), maize, and sugar beet coincides with a depressed development in the yield components. The application of K fertilizer to plants is a simple agronomic practice used to increase crop tolerance to a temporary water shortage. It may be that the improvement of a plant's access to K during mild water‐deficiency stress will increase water uptake by the root cells, which in turn increases their osmotic potential and thereby allows extension growth. This growth in turn promotes access to other mineral elements (including nitrogen) and water, which favor plant growth and yield.     

Exploring the spatial relations between cereal yield and soil chemical properties and the implications for sampling

Abstract. In general, agricultural management has focused on differences between fields or on the gross differences within them. Recent developments in agricultural technology, yield mapping, Global Positioning Systems and variable rate applications, have made it possible to consider managing the considerable variation in soil and other properties within fields. This system is known as precision agriculture. More precise management of fields depends on a better understanding of the factors that affect crop input decisions. This paper examines the spatial variation in crop yield, soil nutrient status and soil pH within two agricultural fields using geostatistics. The observed properties vary considerably within each field. The relation between yield and the measured soil properties appears to be weak in general. However, the range of spatial correlation for yield, shown by the variogram, is similar to that of the soil chemical properties. In addition the latter changed little over two years. This suggests that information on the scale of variation of soil chemical properties can be derived from yield maps, which can also be used as a guide to a suitable sampling interval for soil properties.     

The Role of Nutrient Efficient Plants in Improving Crop Yields in the Twenty First Century

In the 21st century, nutrient efficient plants will play a major role in increasing crop yields compared to the 20th century, mainly due to limited land and water resources available for crop production, higher cost of inorganic fertilizer inputs, declining trends in crop yields globally, and increasing environmental concerns. Furthermore, at least 60% of the world's arable lands have mineral deficiencies or elemental toxicity problems, and on such soils fertilizers and lime amendments are essential for achieving improved crop yields. Fertilizer inputs are increasing cost of production of farmers, and there is a major concern for environmental pollution due to excess fertilizer inputs. Higher demands for food and fiber by increasing world populations further enhance the importance of nutrient efficient cultivars that are also higher producers. Nutrient efficient plants are defined as those plants, which produce higher yields per unit of nutrient, applied or absorbed than other plants (standards) under similar agroecological conditions. During the last three decades, much research has been conducted to identify and/or breed nutrient efficient plant species or genotypes/cultivars within species and to further understand the mechanisms of nutrient efficiency in crop plants. However, success in releasing nutrient efficient cultivars has been limited. The main reasons for limited success are that the genetics of plant responses to nutrients and plant interactions with environmental variables are not well understood. Complexity of genes involved in nutrient use efficiency for macro and micronutrients and limited collaborative efforts between breeders, soil scientists, physiologists, and agronomists to evaluate nutrient efficiency issues on a holistic basis have hampered progress in this area. Hence, during the 21st century agricultural scientists have tremendous challenges, as well as opportunities, to develop nutrient efficient crop plants and to develop best management practices that increase the plant efficiency for utilization of applied fertilizers. During the 20th century, breeding for nutritional traits has been proposed as a strategy to improve the efficiency of fertilizer use or to obtain higher yields in low input agricultural systems. This strategy should continue to receive top priority during the 21st century for developing nutrient efficient crop genotypes. This paper over views the importance of nutrient efficient plants in increasing crop yields in modern agriculture. Further, definitions and available methods of calculating nutrient use efficiency, mechanisms for nutrient uptake and use efficiency, role of crops in nutrient use efficiency under biotic and abiotic stresses and breeding strategies to improve nutrient use efficiency in crop plants have been discussed.     

Managing crop root zone ecosystems for prevention of harmful and encouragement of beneficial nematodes

The goal of agricultural nematologists is usually considered to be the prevention of harmful nematode populations from reaching levels that cause noticeable yield losses in field crops. Usually, it is the plant-parasitic nematodes that are attributed with constraining plant growth and development. Not nearly as well understood is the impact on crop plants of the non-plant-parasitic and bacteria-feeding nematodes. This latter group can interact with plant-growth-promoting bacteria to improve soil fertility and improve crop productivity. The challenge has become finding methods to develop and maintain those systems that build-up beneficial nematode populations while simultaneously suppressing plant-parasitic nematodes and associated plant pathogens. Beneficial soil nematodes are usually more abundant in crop management systems subjected to sophisticated crop sequences, cultivation practices and organic amendments. Models to predict the population dynamics of a nematode species have been developed. However, the inadequacies of nematode identification, compounded by the irregular distribution of nematodes in soil, have made it difficult to obtain reliable data on nematode distribution and abundance with which to refine these simulation models. Since many different nematode extraction methods are in use today it also becomes extremely difficult to meaningfully compare quantitative data from different laboratories. As the number of factor variables affecting soil nematode populations is large and monitoring seasonal populations awkward, nematode influence on crop health and yield determination is seldom fully recognized. Thus, it is usually only those catastrophic nematode outbreaks that are recognized, while systematic benefits are rarely recognized or appreciated. Perhaps, with the utilization of molecular biotechnology it will become possible to better elucidate nematode plant–host interactions. Clearly, these root zone relationships will increasingly become a key component in understanding soil ecosystem function and lead to better cropping system design.