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Dr. Hijri obtained his BSc in 1994 in Cell Biology (option: Plant Science and Biotechnology), and his MSc in 1995 in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Burgundy (Dijon, France). His MSc research project was a study of the cytogenetics of the pea plant (Pisum sativum L.) by karyotyping and characterizing ribosomal DNA on pea chromosomes using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). His MSc research was conducted at the INRA Dijon Centre under the supervision of Dr Mona Darmency. He obtained his PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology (option: Molecular Genetics) at the University of Burgundy (Dijon, France) in 1999. His PhD project aimed to study the organization of the genetic polymorphism of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Scutellospora castanea under the supervision of Prof. Hubert Dulieu at the INRA Dijon Centre. In 1999, Dr. Hijri joined the lab of Dr. Ian Sanders at the University of Basel (Switzerland) as a postdoctoral fellow and worked on molecular genetics and the evolution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. He then moved with the Sanders Lab to the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) in 2000 and continued as a postdoctoral fellow until 2005. Dr. Hijri then joined the IRBV and the Département de Sciences Biolsogique of the Université de Montréal in September 2005. Dr Hijri was promoted to associate professor in 2010, and to full professor in 2016 at the Université de Montréal.
Phytate represents an organic pool of phosphorus in soil that requires hydrolysis by phytase enzymes produced by microorganisms prior to its bioavailability by plants. We tested the ability of a microbial suspension made from an old growth maple forest’s undisturbed soil to mineralize phytate in a greenhouse trial on soybean plants inoculated or non-inoculated with the suspension. MiSeq Amplicon sequencing targeting bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS was performed to assess microbial community changes following treatments. Our results showed that soybean nodulation and shoot dry weight biomass increased when phytate was applied to the nutrient-poor substrate mixture. Bacterial and fungal diversities of the root and rhizosphere biotopes were relatively resilient following inoculation by microbial suspension; however, bacterial community structure was significantly influenced. Interestingly, four arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) were identified as indicator species, including Glomus sp., Claroideoglomus etunicatum, Funneliformis mosseae and an unidentified AMF taxon. We also observed that an ericoid mycorrhizal taxon Sebacina sp. and three Trichoderma spp. were among indicator species. Non-pathogenic Planctobacteria members highly dominated the bacterial community as core and hub taxa for over 80% of all bacterial datasets in root and rhizosphere biotopes. Overall, our study documented that inoculation with a microbial suspension and phytate amendment improved soybean plant growth.
Bulbul Ahmed; Jean-Baptiste Floc’H; Zakaria Lahrach; Mohamed Hijri. Phytate and Microbial Suspension Amendments Increased Soybean Growth and Shifted Microbial Community Structure. Microorganisms 2021, 9, 1803 .
AMA StyleBulbul Ahmed, Jean-Baptiste Floc’H, Zakaria Lahrach, Mohamed Hijri. Phytate and Microbial Suspension Amendments Increased Soybean Growth and Shifted Microbial Community Structure. Microorganisms. 2021; 9 (9):1803.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBulbul Ahmed; Jean-Baptiste Floc’H; Zakaria Lahrach; Mohamed Hijri. 2021. "Phytate and Microbial Suspension Amendments Increased Soybean Growth and Shifted Microbial Community Structure." Microorganisms 9, no. 9: 1803.
Soil contamination with petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) has become a global concern and has resulted from the intensification of industrial activities. This has created a serious environmental issue; therefore, there is a need to find solutions, including application of efficient remediation technologies or improvement of current techniques. Rhizoremediation is a green technology that has received global attention as a cost-effective and possibly efficient remediation technique for PHC-polluted soil. Rhizoremediation refers to the use of plants and their associated microbiota to clean up contaminated soils, where plant roots stimulate soil microbes to mineralize organic contaminants to H2O and CO2. However, this multipartite interaction is complicated because many biotic and abiotic factors can influence microbial processes in the soil, making the efficiency of rhizoremediation unpredictable. This review reports the current knowledge of rhizoremediation approaches that can accelerate the remediation of PHC-contaminated soil. Recent approaches discussed in this review include (1) selecting plants with desired characteristics suitable for rhizoremediation; (2) exploiting and manipulating the plant microbiome by using inoculants containing plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) or hydrocarbon-degrading microbes, or a combination of both types of organisms; (3) enhancing the understanding of how the host–plant assembles a beneficial microbiome, and how it functions, under pollutant stress. A better understanding of plant–microbiome interactions could lead to successful use of rhizoremediation for PHC-contaminated soil in the future.
Fahad Alotaibi; Mohamed Hijri; Marc St-Arnaud. Overview of Approaches to Improve Rhizoremediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils. Applied Microbiology 2021, 1, 329 -351.
AMA StyleFahad Alotaibi, Mohamed Hijri, Marc St-Arnaud. Overview of Approaches to Improve Rhizoremediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils. Applied Microbiology. 2021; 1 (2):329-351.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFahad Alotaibi; Mohamed Hijri; Marc St-Arnaud. 2021. "Overview of Approaches to Improve Rhizoremediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils." Applied Microbiology 1, no. 2: 329-351.
Soil bacteria drive key ecosystem functions, including nutrient mobilization, soil aggregation and crop bioprotection against pathogens. Bacterial diversity is thus considered a key component of soil health. Conventional agriculture reduces bacterial diversity in many ways. Compost tea has been suggested as a bioinoculant that may restore bacterial community diversity and promote crop performance under conventional agriculture. Here, we conducted a field experiment to test this hypothesis in a soybean-maize rotation. Compost tea application had no influence on bacterial diversity or community structure. Plant growth and yield were also unresponsive to compost tea application. Combined, our results suggest that our compost tea bacteria did not thrive in the soil, and that the positive impacts of compost tea applications reported elsewhere may be caused by different microbial groups (e.g., fungi, protists and nematodes) or by abiotic effects on soil (e.g., contribution of nutrients and dissolved organic matter). Further investigations are needed to elucidate the mechanisms through which compost tea influences crop performance.
Rana Bali; Jonathan Pineault; Pierre-Luc Chagnon; Mohamed Hijri. Fresh Compost Tea Application Does Not Change Rhizosphere Soil Bacterial Community Structure, and Has No Effects on Soybean Growth or Yield. Plants 2021, 10, 1638 .
AMA StyleRana Bali, Jonathan Pineault, Pierre-Luc Chagnon, Mohamed Hijri. Fresh Compost Tea Application Does Not Change Rhizosphere Soil Bacterial Community Structure, and Has No Effects on Soybean Growth or Yield. Plants. 2021; 10 (8):1638.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRana Bali; Jonathan Pineault; Pierre-Luc Chagnon; Mohamed Hijri. 2021. "Fresh Compost Tea Application Does Not Change Rhizosphere Soil Bacterial Community Structure, and Has No Effects on Soybean Growth or Yield." Plants 10, no. 8: 1638.
Soil contamination with petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) has become a global concern in the word due to intensification of industrial activities. This creates a serious environmental issue, therefore there is a need to find solutions, including application of efficient remediation technologies, or to improve current techniques. Rhizoremediation is a sub-category of the phytoremediation which refers to Phytomanagement that uses plants and their associated microbiota. These green technologies have received a global attention as a cost-effective and possible efficient remediation technique that can be applied to cleanup PHCs-polluted soils. The mechanism of rhizoremediation process is that plant roots stimulate soil microbes to mineralize organic contaminants to H2O and CO2. However, this multipartite interaction is much complex because many biotic and abiotic factors can influence microbial processes in the soil, making the efficiency of rhizoremediation unpredictable. This review reports the progress made on rhizoremediation approaches that can overcome the limitations and improve the efficiency of PHCs-contaminated soils. The addressed approaches in this review include: 1) selecting plants with desired characteristics suitable for rhizoremediation, 2) the exploitation and manipulation of plant microbiome by using inoculant containing plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) or hydrocarbon-degrading microbes, or a combination of both types of organisms, and 3) enhancement of the understanding of how host-plant assembles a beneficial microbiome, and how it functions, under pollutant stress.
Fahad Alotaibi; Mohamed Hijri; Marc St-Arnaud. Overview Of Approaches to Improve Rhizoremediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils. 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleFahad Alotaibi, Mohamed Hijri, Marc St-Arnaud. Overview Of Approaches to Improve Rhizoremediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils. . 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFahad Alotaibi; Mohamed Hijri; Marc St-Arnaud. 2021. "Overview Of Approaches to Improve Rhizoremediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils." , no. : 1.
The subterranean microbiota of plants are of great importance for plant growth and health, as root-associated microbes can perform crucial ecological functions. As the microbial environment of roots is extremely diverse, identifying keystone microorganisms in plant roots, rhizosphere and bulk soil is a necessary step towards understanding the network of influence within the microbial community associated with roots and enhancing its beneficial elements. To target these hot spots of microbial interaction, we used inter-kingdom network analysis on the canola growth phase of a long-term cropping system diversification experiment conducted at four locations in the Canadian prairies. Our aims were: to verify whether bacterial and fungal communities of canola roots, rhizosphere and bulk soil are related and influenced by diversification of the crop rotation system; to determine whether there are common or specific core fungi and bacteria in the roots, rhizosphere, and bulk soil under canola grown in different environments and with different levels of cropping system diversification; and to identify hub taxa at the inter-kingdom level that could play an important ecological role in the microbiota of canola. Our results showed that fungi were influenced by crop diversification but not by bacteria. We found no core microbiota in canola roots but identified three core fungi in the rhizosphere, one core mycobiota in the bulk soil and one core bacteria shared by the rhizosphere and bulk soil. We identified two bacterial and one fungal hub taxa in the inter-kingdom networks of the canola rhizosphere, and one bacterial and two fungal hub taxa in the bulk soil. Among these inter-kingdom hub taxa, Bradyrhizobium sp. and Mortierella sp. are particularly influential on the microbial community and the plant. To our knowledge, this is the first inter-kingdom network analysis utilized to identify hot spots of interaction in canola microbial communities.
Jean-Baptiste Floc'H; Chantal Hamel; Mario Laterriere; Breanne Tidemann; Marc St-Arnaud; Mohamed Hijri. Inter-Kingdom Networks of Canola Microbiome Reveal Bradyrhizobium as Keystone Species and Underline the Importance of Bulk Soil in Microbial Studies to Enhance Canola Production. 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleJean-Baptiste Floc'H, Chantal Hamel, Mario Laterriere, Breanne Tidemann, Marc St-Arnaud, Mohamed Hijri. Inter-Kingdom Networks of Canola Microbiome Reveal Bradyrhizobium as Keystone Species and Underline the Importance of Bulk Soil in Microbial Studies to Enhance Canola Production. . 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJean-Baptiste Floc'H; Chantal Hamel; Mario Laterriere; Breanne Tidemann; Marc St-Arnaud; Mohamed Hijri. 2021. "Inter-Kingdom Networks of Canola Microbiome Reveal Bradyrhizobium as Keystone Species and Underline the Importance of Bulk Soil in Microbial Studies to Enhance Canola Production." , no. : 1.
Background Cannabis growing practices and particularly indoor cultivation conditions have a great influence on the production of cannabinoids. Plant-associated microbes may affect nutrient acquisition by the plant. However, beneficial microbes influencing cannabinoid biosynthesis remain largely unexplored and unexploited in cannabis production. Objective To summarize study outcomes on bacterial and fungal communities associated with cannabis using high-throughput sequencing technologies and to uncover microbial interactions, species diversity, and microbial network connections that potentially influence secondary metabolite production in cannabis. Materials and method A mini review was conducted including recent publications on cannabis and their associated microbiota and secondary metabolite production. Results In this review, we provide an overview of the potential role of the soil microbiome in production of cannabinoids, and discussed that manipulation of cannabis-associated microbiome obtained through soil amendment interventions of diversified microbial communities sourced from natural forest soil could potentially help producers of cannabis to improve yields of cannabinoids and enhance the balance of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) proportions. Conclusion Cannabis is one of the oldest cultivated crops in history, grown for food, fiber, and drugs for thousands of years. Extension of genetic variation in cannabis has developed into wide-ranging varieties with various complementary phenotypes and secondary metabolites. For medical or pharmaceutical purposes, the ratio of CBD to THC is key. Therefore, studying soil microbiota associated with cannabis and its potential impact on secondary metabolites production could be useful when selecting microorganisms as bioinoculant agents for enhanced organic cannabinoid production.
Bulbul Ahmed; Mohamed Hijri. Potential impacts of soil microbiota manipulation on secondary metabolites production in cannabis. Journal of Cannabis Research 2021, 3, 25 .
AMA StyleBulbul Ahmed, Mohamed Hijri. Potential impacts of soil microbiota manipulation on secondary metabolites production in cannabis. Journal of Cannabis Research. 2021; 3 (1):25.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBulbul Ahmed; Mohamed Hijri. 2021. "Potential impacts of soil microbiota manipulation on secondary metabolites production in cannabis." Journal of Cannabis Research 3, no. 1: 25.
Soil bacteria drive key ecosystem functions, including nutrient mobilization, soil aggregation and crop bioprotection against pathogens. Bacterial diversity is thus considered a key component of soil health. Conventional agriculture reduces bacterial diversity in many ways. Compost tea has been suggested as a bioinoculant that may restore bacterial community diversity and promote crop performance under conventional agriculture. Here, we conducted a field experiment to test this hypothesis in a soybean-maize rotation. Compost tea application had no influence on bacterial diversity or community structure. Plant growth and yield were also unresponsive to compost tea application. Combined, our results suggest that our compost tea bacteria did not thrive in the soil, and that the positive impacts of compost tea applications reported elsewhere may be caused by different microbial groups (e.g., fungi, protists, nematodes) or by abiotic effects on soil (e.g., contribution of nutrients and dissolved organic matter). Further investigations are needed to elucidate the mechanisms through which compost tea influences crop performance.
Rana Bali; Jonathan Pineault; Pierre-Luc Chagnon; Mohamed Hijri. Fresh Compost Tea Application Does Not Change Soil Bacterial Community Structure, and Has No Effects on Soybean Growth or Yield. 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleRana Bali, Jonathan Pineault, Pierre-Luc Chagnon, Mohamed Hijri. Fresh Compost Tea Application Does Not Change Soil Bacterial Community Structure, and Has No Effects on Soybean Growth or Yield. . 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRana Bali; Jonathan Pineault; Pierre-Luc Chagnon; Mohamed Hijri. 2021. "Fresh Compost Tea Application Does Not Change Soil Bacterial Community Structure, and Has No Effects on Soybean Growth or Yield." , no. : 1.
Soil fungal communities play a central role in natural systems and agroecosystems. As such, they have attracted significant research interest. However, the fungal microbiota of aromatic plants, such as clary sage (Salvia sclarea L.), remain unexplored. This is especially the case in trace element (TE)-polluted conditions and within the framework of phytomanagement approaches. The presence of high concentrations of TEs in soils can negatively affect not only microbial diversity and community composition but also plant establishment and growth. Hence, the objective of this study is to investigate the soil fungal and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) community composition and their changes over time in TE-polluted soils in the vicinity of a former lead smelter and under the cultivation of clary sage. We used Illumina MiSeq amplicon sequencing to evaluate the effects of in situ clary sage cultivation over two successive years, combined or not with exogenous AMF inoculation, on the rhizospheric soil and root fungal communities. We obtained 1239 and 569 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASV), respectively, in the rhizospheric soil and roots of S. sclarea under TE-polluted conditions. Remarkably, 69 AMF species were detected at our experimental site, belonging to 12 AMF genera. Furthermore, the inoculation treatment significantly shaped the fungal communities in soil and increased the number of AMF ASVs in clary sage roots. In addition, clary sage cultivation over successive years could be one of the explanatory parameters for the inter-annual variation in both fungal and AMF communities in the soil and root biotopes. Our data provide new insights on fungal and AMF communities in the rhizospheric soil and roots of an aromatic plant, clary sage, grown in TE-polluted agricultural soil.
Robin Raveau; Anissa Lounès-Hadj Sahraoui; Mohamed Hijri; Joël Fontaine. Clary Sage Cultivation and Mycorrhizal Inoculation Influence the Rhizosphere Fungal Community of an Aged Trace-Element Polluted Soil. Microorganisms 2021, 9, 1333 .
AMA StyleRobin Raveau, Anissa Lounès-Hadj Sahraoui, Mohamed Hijri, Joël Fontaine. Clary Sage Cultivation and Mycorrhizal Inoculation Influence the Rhizosphere Fungal Community of an Aged Trace-Element Polluted Soil. Microorganisms. 2021; 9 (6):1333.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRobin Raveau; Anissa Lounès-Hadj Sahraoui; Mohamed Hijri; Joël Fontaine. 2021. "Clary Sage Cultivation and Mycorrhizal Inoculation Influence the Rhizosphere Fungal Community of an Aged Trace-Element Polluted Soil." Microorganisms 9, no. 6: 1333.
Phytate represents an organic pool of phosphorus in soil that require hydrolysis by phytase enzymes produced by microorganisms prior to its bioavailability by plants. We hypothesize that in a greenhouse trail on soybean plants inoculated or non-inoculated with a microbial suspension made from an age-old maple forest’s undisturbed soil mineralize phytate. MiSeq Amplicon sequencing targeting bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS was performed to assess microbial community changes following treatments. Our results showed that soybean nodulation and shoot dry weight biomass increased when phytate was applied to the nutrient-poor substrate mixture. Bacterial and fungal diversities of the root and rhizosphere biotopes were relatively resilient following inoculation by microbial suspension; however, bacterial community structure was significantly influenced. Interestingly, four arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) were identified as indicator species, including Glomus sp., Claroideoglomus etunicatum, Funneliformis mosseae and an unidentified AMF taxon. We also observed that an ericoid mycorrhizal taxon Sebacina sp. and three Trichoderma spp. were among indicator species. Non-pathogenic Planctobacteria members highly dominated the bacterial community as core and hub taxa for over 80% of all bacterial datasets in root and rhizosphere biotopes. Overall, our study documented that inoculation with a microbial suspension and phytate amendment improved soybean plant growth.
Bulbul Ahmed; Jean-Baptiste Floc'H; Zakaria Lahrache; Mohamed Hijri. Phytate and Microbial Suspension Amendments Increased Soybean Growth and Shifted Microbial Community Structure. 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleBulbul Ahmed, Jean-Baptiste Floc'H, Zakaria Lahrache, Mohamed Hijri. Phytate and Microbial Suspension Amendments Increased Soybean Growth and Shifted Microbial Community Structure. . 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBulbul Ahmed; Jean-Baptiste Floc'H; Zakaria Lahrache; Mohamed Hijri. 2021. "Phytate and Microbial Suspension Amendments Increased Soybean Growth and Shifted Microbial Community Structure." , no. : 1.
Endophytic bacteria colonize plants and live inside them for part of or throughout their life without causing any harm or disease to their hosts. The symbiotic relationship improves the physiology, fitness, and metabolite profile of the plants, while the plants provide food and shelter for the bacteria. The bacteria-induced alterations of the plants offer many possibilities for biotechnological, medicinal, and agricultural applications. The endophytes promote plant growth and fitness through the production of phytohormones or biofertilizers, or by alleviating abiotic and biotic stress tolerance. Strengthening of the plant immune system and suppression of disease are associated with the production of novel antibiotics, secondary metabolites, siderophores, and fertilizers such as nitrogenous or other industrially interesting chemical compounds. Endophytic bacteria can be used for phytoremediation of environmental pollutants or the control of fungal diseases by the production of lytic enzymes such as chitinases and cellulases, and their huge host range allows a broad spectrum of applications to agriculturally and pharmaceutically interesting plant species. More recently, endophytic bacteria have also been used to produce nanoparticles for medical and industrial applications. This review highlights the biotechnological possibilities for bacterial endophyte applications and proposes future goals for their application.
Ahmed Eid; Amr Fouda; Mohamed Abdel-Rahman; Salem Salem; Albaraa Elsaied; Ralf Oelmüller; Mohamed Hijri; Arnab Bhowmik; Amr Elkelish; Saad Hassan. Harnessing Bacterial Endophytes for Promotion of Plant Growth and Biotechnological Applications: An Overview. Plants 2021, 10, 935 .
AMA StyleAhmed Eid, Amr Fouda, Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, Salem Salem, Albaraa Elsaied, Ralf Oelmüller, Mohamed Hijri, Arnab Bhowmik, Amr Elkelish, Saad Hassan. Harnessing Bacterial Endophytes for Promotion of Plant Growth and Biotechnological Applications: An Overview. Plants. 2021; 10 (5):935.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAhmed Eid; Amr Fouda; Mohamed Abdel-Rahman; Salem Salem; Albaraa Elsaied; Ralf Oelmüller; Mohamed Hijri; Arnab Bhowmik; Amr Elkelish; Saad Hassan. 2021. "Harnessing Bacterial Endophytes for Promotion of Plant Growth and Biotechnological Applications: An Overview." Plants 10, no. 5: 935.
The Salix genus includes shrub species that are widely used in phytoremediation and various other phytotechnologies due to their advantageous characteristics, such as a high evapotranspiration (ET) rate, in particular when cultivated in short rotation intensive culture (SRIC). Observations made in past field studies suggest that ET and its impact on soil hydrology can also lead to increases in soil pollutant concentrations near shrubs. To investigate this, sections of a mature willow plantation (seven years old) were cut to eliminate transpiration (Cut treatment). Soil concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), aliphatic compounds C10–C50, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and five trace elements (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn) were compared between the Cut and the uncut plots (Salix miyabeana ‘SX61’). Over 24 months, the results clearly show that removal of the willow shrubs limited the contaminants’ increase in the soil surface, as observed for C10–C50 and of 10 PAHs under the Salix treatment. This finding strongly reinforces a hypothesis that SRIC of willows may facilitate the migration of contaminants towards their roots, thus increasing their concentration in the surrounding soil. Such a “pumping effect” in a high-density willow crop is a prominent characteristic specific to field studies that can lead to counterintuitive results. Although apparent increases of contaminant concentrations contradict the purification benefits usually pursued in phytoremediation, the possibility of active phytoextraction and rhizodegradation is not excluded. Moreover, increases of pollutant concentrations under shrubs following migration suggest that decreases would consequently occur at the source points. Some reflections on interpreting field work results are provided.
Maxime Fortin Faubert; Dominic Desjardins; Mohamed Hijri; Michel Labrecque. Willows Used for Phytoremediation Increased Organic Contaminant Concentrations in Soil Surface. Applied Sciences 2021, 11, 2979 .
AMA StyleMaxime Fortin Faubert, Dominic Desjardins, Mohamed Hijri, Michel Labrecque. Willows Used for Phytoremediation Increased Organic Contaminant Concentrations in Soil Surface. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11 (7):2979.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaxime Fortin Faubert; Dominic Desjardins; Mohamed Hijri; Michel Labrecque. 2021. "Willows Used for Phytoremediation Increased Organic Contaminant Concentrations in Soil Surface." Applied Sciences 11, no. 7: 2979.
The aim of this study was to investigate the bioremediation impacts of willows grown in short rotation intensive culture (SRIC) and supplemented or not with spent mushroom substrate (SMS) and ramial chipped wood (RCW). Results did not show that SMS significantly improved either biomass production or phytoremediation efficiency. After the three growing seasons, RCW-amended S. miyabeana accumulated significantly more Zn in the shoots, and greater increases of some PAHs were found in the soil of RCW-amended plots than in the soil of the two other ground cover treatments’ plots. Significantly higher Cd concentrations were found in the shoots of cultivar ‘SX61’. The results suggest that ‘SX61’ have reduced the natural attenuation of C10-C50 that occurred in the unvegetated control plots. The presence of willows also tended to increase the total soil concentrations of PCBs. Furthermore, we found that many contaminant concentrations were subject to seasonal oscillations, showing average increases throughout the whole experimental site after a growing period, while showing significantly different variations, such as lesser increases or even decreases, after a dormant period. These observations suggest that contaminants may have leached or degraded faster in untreated conditions, and conversely to have mobilized towards trees through water flow driven by plant transpiration during growing seasons.
Maxime Fortin Faubert; Mohamed Hijri; Michel Labrecque. Short Rotation Intensive Culture of Willow, Spent Mushroom Substrate and Ramial Chipped Wood for Bioremediation of a Contaminated Site Used for Land Farming Activities of a Former Petrochemical Plant. Plants 2021, 10, 520 .
AMA StyleMaxime Fortin Faubert, Mohamed Hijri, Michel Labrecque. Short Rotation Intensive Culture of Willow, Spent Mushroom Substrate and Ramial Chipped Wood for Bioremediation of a Contaminated Site Used for Land Farming Activities of a Former Petrochemical Plant. Plants. 2021; 10 (3):520.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaxime Fortin Faubert; Mohamed Hijri; Michel Labrecque. 2021. "Short Rotation Intensive Culture of Willow, Spent Mushroom Substrate and Ramial Chipped Wood for Bioremediation of a Contaminated Site Used for Land Farming Activities of a Former Petrochemical Plant." Plants 10, no. 3: 520.
Growing evidence showed that efficient acquisition and use of nutrients by crops is controlled by root-associated microbiomes. Efficient management of this system is essential to improving crop yield, while reducing the environmental footprint of crop production. Both endophytic and rhizospheric microorganisms can directly promote crop growth, increasing crop yield per unit of soil nutrients. A variety of plant symbionts, most notably the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and phosphate-potassium-solubilizing microorganisms entered the era of large-scale applications in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. The purpose of this study is to compile data to give a complete and comprehensive assessment and an update of mycorrhizal-based inoculant uses in agriculture in the past, present, and future. Based on available data, 68 mycorrhizal products from 28 manufacturers across Europe, America, and Asia were examined on varying properties such as physical forms, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal composition, number of active ingredients, claims of purpose served, mode of application, and recommendation. Results show that 90% of the products studied are in solid formula—powder (65%) and granular (25%), while only 10% occur in liquid formula. We found that 100% of the products are based on the Glomeraceae of which three species dominate among all the products in the order of Rhizophagus irregularis (39%), Funneliformis mosseae (21%), Claroideoglomus etunicatum (16%). Rhizophagus clarus is the least common among all the benchmark products. One third of the products is single species AMF and only 19% include other beneficial microbes. Of the sampled products, 44% contain AMF only while the rest are combined with varying active ingredients. Most of the products (84%) claimed to provide plant nutrient benefits. Soil application dominates agricultural practices of the products and represents 47%. A substantial amount of the inoculants were applied in cereal production. Recommended application doses varied extensively per plant, seed and hectare. AMF inoculant seed coating accounted for 26% of the products’ application and has great potential for increased inoculation efficiency over large-scale production due to minimum inoculum use. More applied research should also be conducted on the possible combination of AMF with other beneficial microbes.
Sulaimon Basiru; Hopkins Pachalo Mwanza; Mohamed Hijri. Analysis of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Inoculant Benchmarks. Microorganisms 2020, 9, 81 .
AMA StyleSulaimon Basiru, Hopkins Pachalo Mwanza, Mohamed Hijri. Analysis of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Inoculant Benchmarks. Microorganisms. 2020; 9 (1):81.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSulaimon Basiru; Hopkins Pachalo Mwanza; Mohamed Hijri. 2020. "Analysis of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Inoculant Benchmarks." Microorganisms 9, no. 1: 81.
Cannabis is one of the oldest cultivated crops in the history for food, fiber and drugs for thousands of years. Extension of cannabis genetic variation developed in a wide- ranging choice of varieties with various complementary phenotypes and secondary metabolites. Cannabis grow practices is very diverse, especially indoor cultivation factors, such as different lighting conditions, pot size, humidity, fertilizers. These growth factors influence a lot on the production of cannabinoids. For medical or pharmaceutical purposes, ratio of CBD or THC is very important. Plants traits and metabolic compounds are related to various conditions produced by microbes. Investigating this crosstalk between plants and microbes can play a vital role not only for stimulating the biosynthetic and signaling pathways of the host plants for the production of agronomically or pharmaceutically essential metabolic compounds but also against pathogens. This study emphasis on decoding the crosstalk between cannabis and associated microbes in the belowground environmental niches that would unravel the complexity of stabilizing cannabinoid production.
Bulbul Ahmed; Mohamed Hijri. Can Manipulation of Soil Microbiota Enhance, Stabilize and Sustain Cannabinoid Production? 2020, 1 .
AMA StyleBulbul Ahmed, Mohamed Hijri. Can Manipulation of Soil Microbiota Enhance, Stabilize and Sustain Cannabinoid Production? . 2020; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBulbul Ahmed; Mohamed Hijri. 2020. "Can Manipulation of Soil Microbiota Enhance, Stabilize and Sustain Cannabinoid Production?" , no. : 1.
In this article, we introduce a novel bioinformatics program, Spore-associated Symbiotic Microbes Position-Specific Function (SeSaMe PS Function), for position-specific functional analysis of short sequences derived from metagenome sequencing data of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The unique advantage of the program lies in databases created based on genus-specific sequence properties derived from protein secondary structure, namely amino acid usages, codon usages, and codon contexts of 3-codon DNA 9-mers. SeSaMe PS Function searches a query sequence against reference sequence database, identifies 3-codon DNA 9-mers with structural roles, and creates comparative dataset containing the codon usage biases of the 3-codon DNA 9-mers from 54 bacterial and fungal genera. The program applies correlation principal component analysis in conjunction with K-means clustering method to the comparative dataset. 3-codon DNA 9-mers clustered as a sole member or with only a few members are often structurally and functionally distinctive sites that provide useful insights into important molecular interactions. The program provides a versatile means for studying functions of short sequences from metagenome sequencing and has a wide spectrum of applications. SeSaMe PS Function is available for free downloading at www.fungalsesame.org.
Jee Eun Kang; Antonio Ciampi; Mohamed Hijri. SeSaMe PS Function: Functional Analysis of the Whole Metagenome Sequencing Data of the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi. Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics 2020, 18, 613 -623.
AMA StyleJee Eun Kang, Antonio Ciampi, Mohamed Hijri. SeSaMe PS Function: Functional Analysis of the Whole Metagenome Sequencing Data of the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi. Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics. 2020; 18 (5):613-623.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJee Eun Kang; Antonio Ciampi; Mohamed Hijri. 2020. "SeSaMe PS Function: Functional Analysis of the Whole Metagenome Sequencing Data of the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi." Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics 18, no. 5: 613-623.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are plant root symbionts that play key roles in plant growth and soil fertility. They are obligate biotrophic fungi that form coenocytic multinucleated hyphae and spores. Numerous studies have shown that diverse microorganisms live on the surface of and inside their mycelia, resulting in a metagenome when whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data are obtained from sequencing AMF cultivated in vivo. The metagenome contains not only the AMF sequences, but also those from associated microorganisms. In this article, we introduce a novel bioinformatics program, Spore associated Symbiotic Microbes (SeSaMe), designed for taxonomic classification of short sequences obtained by next-generation DNA sequencing. A genus-specific usage bias database was created based on amino acid usage and codon usage of three consecutive codon DNA 9-mer encoding an amino acid trimer in a protein secondary structure. The program distinguishes between coding sequence (CDS) and non-CDS, and classifies a query sequence into a genus group out of 54 genera used as reference. The mean percentages of correct predictions of the CDS and the non-CDS test sets at the genus level were 71% and 50% for bacteria, 65% and 73% for fungi (excluding AMF), and 49% and 72% for AMF (Rhizophagus irregularis), respectively. SeSaMe provides a means for estimating not only taxonomic diversity and abundance but also the gene reservoir of the reference taxonomic groups associated with AMF. Therefore, it enables users to study the symbiotic roles of associated microorganisms. It can also be applicable to other microorganisms as well as soil metagenomes. SeSaMe is freely available at www.fungalsesame.org.
Jee Eun Kang; Antonio Ciampi; Mohamed Hijri. SeSaMe: Metagenome Sequence Classification of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi-associated Microorganisms. Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics 2020, 18, 601 -612.
AMA StyleJee Eun Kang, Antonio Ciampi, Mohamed Hijri. SeSaMe: Metagenome Sequence Classification of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi-associated Microorganisms. Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics. 2020; 18 (5):601-612.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJee Eun Kang; Antonio Ciampi; Mohamed Hijri. 2020. "SeSaMe: Metagenome Sequence Classification of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi-associated Microorganisms." Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics 18, no. 5: 601-612.
Desert plants are able to survive under harsh environmental stresses inherent to arid and semiarid regions due to their association with bacterial endophytes. However, the identity, functions, and the factors that influence the association of bacterial endophytes with desert plants are poorly known. These bacterial endophytes can be used as an untapped resource to favor plant growth and development in agro-ecosystems of arid regions. The present study is therefore focused on the isolation and identification of bacterial endophytes from two native medicinal plants (Fagonia mollis Delile and Achillea fragrantissima (Forssk) Sch. Bip.) growing spontaneously in the arid region of the South Sinai (Egypt), and characterization of their plant growth promoting (PGP) traits. Thirteen putative bacterial endophytes were isolated from the leaves of both plant species and characterized for their plant growth promoting abilities using molecular and biochemical approaches, as well as greenhouse trials. Selected endophytic bacterial strains were applied to maize plants (Zea mays L. var. Single cross Pioneer 30K08) to further evaluate their PGP abilities under greenhouse conditions. Isolated bacterial strains have variable plant growth promoting activities. Among these activities, isolated bacterial endophytes have the efficacy of phosphate solubilizing with clear zones ranging from 7.6 ± 0.3 to 9.6 ± 0.3 mm. Additionally, the obtained bacterial endophytes increased the productivity of indole acetic acid (IAA) in broth media from 10 to 60 µg·mL−1 with increasing tryptophan concentration from 1 to 5 mg·mL−1. Bacillus and Brevibacillus strains were frequently isolated from the leaves of both plant species, and had significant positive effects on plant growth and shoot phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) contents. Results suggest that these endophytes are good candidates as plant growth promoting inoculants to help reduce chemical input in conventional agricultural practices and increase nutrient uptake and stress resilience in plant species.
Muneera D. F. Alkahtani; Amr Fouda; Kotb A. Attia; Fahad Al-Otaibi; Ahmed M. Eid; Emad El-Din Ewais; Mohamed Hijri; Marc St-Arnaud; Saad El-Din Hassan; Naeem Khan; Yaser M. Hafez; Khaled A. A. Abdelaal. Isolation and Characterization of Plant Growth Promoting Endophytic Bacteria from Desert Plants and Their Application as Bioinoculants for Sustainable Agriculture. Agronomy 2020, 10, 1325 .
AMA StyleMuneera D. F. Alkahtani, Amr Fouda, Kotb A. Attia, Fahad Al-Otaibi, Ahmed M. Eid, Emad El-Din Ewais, Mohamed Hijri, Marc St-Arnaud, Saad El-Din Hassan, Naeem Khan, Yaser M. Hafez, Khaled A. A. Abdelaal. Isolation and Characterization of Plant Growth Promoting Endophytic Bacteria from Desert Plants and Their Application as Bioinoculants for Sustainable Agriculture. Agronomy. 2020; 10 (9):1325.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMuneera D. F. Alkahtani; Amr Fouda; Kotb A. Attia; Fahad Al-Otaibi; Ahmed M. Eid; Emad El-Din Ewais; Mohamed Hijri; Marc St-Arnaud; Saad El-Din Hassan; Naeem Khan; Yaser M. Hafez; Khaled A. A. Abdelaal. 2020. "Isolation and Characterization of Plant Growth Promoting Endophytic Bacteria from Desert Plants and Their Application as Bioinoculants for Sustainable Agriculture." Agronomy 10, no. 9: 1325.
Wheat is among the important crops harnessed by humans whose breeding efforts resulted in a diversity of genotypes with contrasting traits. The goal of this study was to determine whether different old and new cultivars of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) recruit specific arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities from indigenous AM fungal populations of soil under field conditions. A historical set of five landraces and 26 durum wheat cultivars were field cultivated in a humid climate in Eastern Canada, under phosphorus-limiting conditions. To characterize the community of AMF inhabiting bulk soil, rhizosphere, and roots, MiSeq amplicon sequencing targeting the 18S rRNA gene (SSU) was performed on total DNAs using a nested PCR approach. Mycorrhizal colonization was estimated using root staining and microscope observations. A total of 317 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were identified as belonging to Glomeromycota. The core AM fungal community (i.e., ASVs present in > 50% of the samples) in the soil, rhizosphere, and root included 29, 30, and 29 ASVs, respectively. ASVs from the genera Funneliformis, Claroideoglomus, and Rhizophagus represented 37%, 18.6%, and 14.7% of the sequences recovered in the rarefied dataset, respectively. The two most abundant ASVs had sequence homology with the 18S sequences from well-identified herbarium cultures of Funneliformis mosseae BEG12 and Rhizophagus irregularis DAOM 197198, while the third most abundant ASV was assigned to the genus Paraglomus. Cultivars showed no significant difference of the percentage of root colonization ranging from 57.8% in Arnautka to 84.0% in AC Navigator. Cultivars were generally associated with similar soil, rhizosphere, and root communities, but the abundance of F. mosseae, R. irregularis, and Claroideoglomus sp. sequences varied in Eurostar, Golden Ball, and Wakooma. Although these results were obtained in one field trial using a non-restricted pool of durum wheat and at the time of sampling, that may have filtered the community in biotopes. The low genetic variation between durum wheat cultivars for the diversity of AM symbiosis at the species level suggests breeding resources need not be committed to leveraging plant selective influence through the use of traditional methods for genotype development.
Franck Stefani; Sarah Dupont; Mario Laterrière; Ron Knox; Yuefeng Ruan; Chantal Hamel; Mohamed Hijri. Similar Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in 31 Durum Wheat Cultivars (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) Under Field Conditions in Eastern Canada. Frontiers in Plant Science 2020, 11, 1206 .
AMA StyleFranck Stefani, Sarah Dupont, Mario Laterrière, Ron Knox, Yuefeng Ruan, Chantal Hamel, Mohamed Hijri. Similar Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in 31 Durum Wheat Cultivars (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) Under Field Conditions in Eastern Canada. Frontiers in Plant Science. 2020; 11 ():1206.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFranck Stefani; Sarah Dupont; Mario Laterrière; Ron Knox; Yuefeng Ruan; Chantal Hamel; Mohamed Hijri. 2020. "Similar Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in 31 Durum Wheat Cultivars (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) Under Field Conditions in Eastern Canada." Frontiers in Plant Science 11, no. : 1206.
Agricultural production is dependent on inputs of nitrogen (N) whose cycle relies on soil and crop microbiomes. Crop diversification has increased productivity, however, its impact on the expression of microbial genes involved in N‐cycling pathways remains unknown. Here, we assessed N‐cycling gene expression patterns in the root and rhizosphere microbiomes of five oilseed crops as influenced by three 2‐year crop rotations. The first phase consisted of fallow, lentil or wheat, and the second phase consisted of one of five oilseed crops. Expression of bacterial amoA , nirK and nirS genes showed that the microbiome of ethiopian mustard had the lowest, and that of camelina the highest potential for N loss. A preceding rotation phase of lentil significantly increased the expression of nifH gene by 23% compared with wheat and improved nxrA gene expression by 51% with chemical fallow in the following oilseed crops, respectively. Lentil substantially increased biological N2 fixation and reduced denitrification in the following oilseed crops. Our results also revealed that most N‐cycling gene transcripts are more abundant in the microbiomes associated with roots than with the rhizosphere. The outcome of our investigation brings a new level of understanding on how crop diversification and rotation sequences are related to N‐cycling in annual cropping systems. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Li Wang; Yantai Gan; Luke D. Bainard; Chantal Hamel; Marc St‐Arnaud; Mohamed Hijri. Expression of N‐cycling genes of root microbiomes provides insights for sustaining oilseed crop production. Environmental Microbiology 2020, 22, 4545 -4556.
AMA StyleLi Wang, Yantai Gan, Luke D. Bainard, Chantal Hamel, Marc St‐Arnaud, Mohamed Hijri. Expression of N‐cycling genes of root microbiomes provides insights for sustaining oilseed crop production. Environmental Microbiology. 2020; 22 (11):4545-4556.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLi Wang; Yantai Gan; Luke D. Bainard; Chantal Hamel; Marc St‐Arnaud; Mohamed Hijri. 2020. "Expression of N‐cycling genes of root microbiomes provides insights for sustaining oilseed crop production." Environmental Microbiology 22, no. 11: 4545-4556.
The rhizosphere hosts a complex web of prokaryotes interacting with one another that may modulate crucial functions related to plant growth and health. Identifying the key factors structuring the prokaryotic community of the plant rhizosphere is a necessary step toward the enhancement of plant production and crop yield with beneficial associative microorganisms. We used a long-term field experiment conducted at three locations in the Canadian prairies to verify that: (1) the level of cropping system diversity influences the α- and β-diversity of the prokaryotic community of canola (Brassica napus) rhizosphere; (2) the canola rhizosphere community has a stable prokaryotic core; and (3) some highly connected taxa of this community fit the description of hub-taxa. We sampled the rhizosphere of canola grown in monoculture, in a 2-phase rotation (canola-wheat), in a 3-phase rotation (pea-barley-canola), and in a highly diversified 6-phase rotation, five and eight years after cropping system establishment. We detected only one core bacterial Amplicon Sequence Variant (ASV) in the prokaryotic component of the microbiota of canola rhizosphere, a hub taxon identified as cf. Pseudarthrobacter sp. This ASV was also the only hub taxon found in the networks of interactions present in both years and at all three sites. We highlight a cohort of bacteria and archaea that were always connected with the core taxon in the network analyses.
Jean-Baptiste Floc’H; Chantal Hamel; Newton Lupwayi; K. Neil Harker; Mohamed Hijri; Marc St-Arnaud. Bacterial Communities of the Canola Rhizosphere: Network Analysis Reveals a Core Bacterium Shaping Microbial Interactions. Frontiers in Microbiology 2020, 11, 1587 .
AMA StyleJean-Baptiste Floc’H, Chantal Hamel, Newton Lupwayi, K. Neil Harker, Mohamed Hijri, Marc St-Arnaud. Bacterial Communities of the Canola Rhizosphere: Network Analysis Reveals a Core Bacterium Shaping Microbial Interactions. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2020; 11 ():1587.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJean-Baptiste Floc’H; Chantal Hamel; Newton Lupwayi; K. Neil Harker; Mohamed Hijri; Marc St-Arnaud. 2020. "Bacterial Communities of the Canola Rhizosphere: Network Analysis Reveals a Core Bacterium Shaping Microbial Interactions." Frontiers in Microbiology 11, no. : 1587.