Abstract
Biochar, in addition to sequestering carbon, ameliorating soil, and improving plant performance, can impact foliar and soilborne plant diseases. Nevertheless, the mechanisms associated with suppression of soilborne diseases and improved plant performances are not well understood. This study is designed to establish the relationships between biochar-induced changes in rhizosphere microbial community structure, taxonomic and functional diversity, and activity with soilborne disease suppression and enhanced plant performance in a comprehensive fashion. Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato and simultaneously improved tomato plant growth and physiological parameters. Furthermore, biochar reduced Fusarium root colonization and survival in soil, and increased the culturable counts of several biocontrol and plant growth promoting microorganisms. Illumina sequencing analyses of 16S rRNA gene revealed substantial differences in rhizosphere bacterial taxonomical composition between biochar-amended and non-amended treatments. Moreover, biochar amendment caused a significant increase in microbial taxonomic and functional diversity, microbial activities and an overall shift in carbon-source utilization. High microbial taxonomic and functional diversity and activity in the rhizosphere has been previously associated with suppression of diseases caused by soilborne pathogens and with plant growth promotion, and may collectively explain the significant reduction of disease and improvement in plant performance observed in the presence of biochar.
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Claims 12
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root rot of tomato.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume0 - Treatment
- Biochare0
- Outcome
- Fusarium crown and root-rote0
- Direction
- suppressede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.


Verbatim
e0“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar improved tomato plant growth.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- Biochare0
- Outcome
- plant growthe1
- Direction
- improvede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato and simultaneously improved tomato plant growth and physiological parameters.”
e1“improved tomato plant growth and physiological parameters”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar improved tomato physiological parameters.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- Biochare0
- Outcome
- physiological parameterse1
- Direction
- improvede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato and simultaneously improved tomato plant growth and physiological parameters.”
e1“improved tomato plant growth and physiological parameters”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar reduced Fusarium root colonization.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- biochare0
- Outcome
- Fusarium root colonizatione0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.


Verbatim
e0“biochar reduced Fusarium root colonization and survival in soil”
e1“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar reduced Fusarium survival in soil.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- biochare0
- Outcome
- Fusarium root colonization and survival in soile0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.


Verbatim
e0“biochar reduced Fusarium root colonization and survival in soil”
e1“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar increased culturable counts of several biocontrol and plant growth promoting microorganisms.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- biochare0
- Outcome
- culturable counts of several biocontrol and plant growth promoting microorganismse0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“biochar reduced Fusarium root colonization and survival in soil, and increased the culturable counts of several biocontrol and plant growth promoting microorganisms”
e1“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Rhizosphere bacterial taxonomic composition differed substantially between biochar-amended and non-amended treatments.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- biochar-amendede0
- Outcome
- rhizosphere bacterial taxonomical compositione0
- Comparator
- non-amended treatmentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“substantial differences in rhizosphere bacterial taxonomical composition between biochar-amended and non-amended treatments”
e1“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar significantly increased microbial taxonomic diversity.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- biochar amendmente0
- Outcome
- microbial taxonomice0
- Direction
- increasee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“biochar amendment caused a significant increase in microbial taxonomic and functional diversity, microbial activities and an overall shift in carbon-source utilization”
e1“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar significantly increased microbial functional diversity.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- biochar amendmente0
- Outcome
- functional diversitye0
- Direction
- increasee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“biochar amendment caused a significant increase in microbial taxonomic and functional diversity, microbial activities and an overall shift in carbon-source utilization”
e1“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar significantly increased microbial activities.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- biochar amendmente0
- Outcome
- microbial activitiese0
- Direction
- increasee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“biochar amendment caused a significant increase in microbial taxonomic and functional diversity, microbial activities and an overall shift in carbon-source utilization”
e1“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar shifted carbon-source utilization.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- biochar amendmente0
- Outcome
- carbon-source utilizatione0
- Direction
- shifte0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“biochar amendment caused a significant increase in microbial taxonomic and functional diversity, microbial activities and an overall shift in carbon-source utilization”
e1“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest rhizosphere microbial diversity and activity may explain biochar-related disease reduction and improved plant performance.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- biochare0
- Outcome
- reduction of disease and improvement in plant performancee0
- Qualifier
- High microbial taxonomic and functional diversity and activity in the rhizospheree0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“High microbial taxonomic and functional diversity and activity in the rhizosphere has been previously associated with suppression of diseases caused by soilborne pathogens and with plant growth promotion, and may collectively explain the significant reduction of disease and improvement in plant performance observed in the presence of biochar”
e1“Biochar suppressed Fusarium crown and root-rot of tomato”
The same questions in other papers
biochar · growth · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results differ
70 papers in the same direction as this paper · 8 in the opposite direction · 1 reporting no difference from an alternative
- no effect
- positive
- positive
76 papers more in this group
See all 80 papers →other · ecology: diversity · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
biochar · ecology: diversity · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
biochar · Fusarium · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results agree
3 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.