Sound can stimulate fungi that make plants grow

Oct. 2 () –

Flinders University scientists are using sound waves in the ground to help the recovery of the ecosystem.

Specifically, they have demonstrated the benefits of acoustic stimulation in the growth rate and sporulation of a soil fungus that promotes plant growth.

“In our experiments, we showed that acoustic stimulation resulted in an increase in fungal biomass and higher spore activity of Trichoderma harzianum compared to controls,” he says. in a statement Dr. Jake Robinson in a new article in Biology Letters.

“We are striving to find new ways to accelerate and improve the levels of beneficial fungi and other microbes in degraded soils. It could have broad benefits for restore degraded landscapes and agricultural lands to feed the world.”

The researchers previously found that a monotonous “white noise,” set at a sound pressure level of 80 dB, also increased a similar response in the soil bacteria E. coli.

“Think of the monotonous sound that an old school radio emits between channels”explains Dr. Robinson.

The fungus T. harzianum was selected for the latter study due to its known beneficial effects on plants, such as disease protection, plant growth, and improved nutrient utilization. In agriculture, It has been shown to parasitize other fungi that are often plant pathogens.

Dr. Robinson says one of the next steps will be to study the benefits of growing various microbes on plant health and then look to expand the experiment outside the laboratory.

“Although still in its early stages, next steps will involve studying microbiome response mechanisms, the flow effect in plants, and figuring out how to scale it up in the field. We also need to understand whether this approach could have potential cascading or unintended consequences“he adds.

In the absence of large-scale ecosystem restoration and effective monitoring strategies, 95% of the planet’s land is projected to be degraded by 2050. The United Nations global initiative – the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030- predicts that 75% of the world’s soils described as degraded could increase to more than 90% by 2050.

Urbanization, deforestation, overgrazing and other harmful practices have led us to this dire situation, which is now affecting human health and undermining food production and natural ecosystems, researchers say.

Co-author of the new paper, Associate Professor Martin Breed from the Restoration Ecology Laboratory at Flinders University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, says the potential of this type of approach is vital. to try to avoid the loss of biodiversity and accelerate the restoration of ecosystems.