Teaming With Bacteria

A must-read handbook for organic gardeners and small-scale growers. Thanks to research conducted over the last few decades, we know that most plants get a significant portion of their nutrients by attracting endophytic bacteria—bacteria that live inside a plant’s cells. Through a complex process, plant cells harvest the nitrogen and other nutrients in a bacterium’s cell wall and expel the bacterium’s protoplasts back into the soil where they rebuild their cell walls, start feeding again, and repeat the cycle. Interesting, you may think, but why does this matter? As it turns out, it matters a lot. The bottom line is this: without endophytic bacteria, plants get fewer nutrients and cannot develop properly. Teaming with Bacteria not only explains the rhizophagy cycle; it shows you how to harness this amazing process to increase productivity and plant health. In addition, endophytic bacteria increase a plant’s tolerances to abiotic and biotic stresses and controlling pathogens. This is exactly what we need if we are to deal effectively with climate change, soil loss, and feeding a rapidly burgeoning population. Gardeners, farmers, and other growers must adjust best practices—and develop new ones—to ensure that the rhizophagy cycle can operate at its most efficient pace and that the right endophytic bacteria can do what they are supposed to do. Just as Teaming with Microbes introduced gardeners and growers to the soil food web, Teaming with Bacteria adds to that science by sharing the latest research on endophytic bacteria (bacteria that live inside plants) and rhizophagy (plants “eating” bacteria)—discoveries that have profound implications for the practices of home gardeners and small-scale growers.

Healthy soil teems with life—not just earthworms and insects, but a staggering multitude of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. Chemical fertilizers injure the microbial life that sustains healthy plants, and the soil becomes increasingly dependent on artificial, often toxic, substances. But there is an alternative: by strengthening the soil food web—the complex world of soil-dwelling organisms—gardeners can create a nurturing environment for plants. Teaming with Microbes extols the benefits of cultivating the soil food web. It clearly explains the activities and organisms that make up the web, and explains how gardeners can cultivate the life of the soil through the use of compost, mulches, and compost tea. With Jeff Lowenfels’ help, everyone—from devotees of organic gardening techniques to weekend gardeners who simply want to grow healthy, vigorous plants—can create rich, nurturing, living soil.

A 2014 Garden Writers Association Media Award Winner Just as he demystified the soil food web in his ground-breaking book Teaming with Microbes, in this new work Jeff Lowenfels explains the basics of plant nutrition from an organic gardener’s perspective. Most gardeners realize that plants need to be fed but know little or nothing about the nature of the nutrients and the mechanisms involved. In his trademark down-to-earth, style, Lowenfels explains the role of both macronutrients and micronutrients and shows gardeners how to provide these essentials through organic, easy-to-follow techniques. Along the way, Lowenfels gives the reader easy-to-grasp lessons in the biology, chemistry, and botany needed to understand how nutrients get into the plant and what they do once they’re inside.

From the bestselling author of Teaming with Microbes and Teaming with Nutrients Teaming with Fungi is an important guide to mycorrhizae and the role they play in agriculture, horticulture, and hydroponics. Almost every plant in a garden forms a relationship with fungi, and many plants would not exist without their fungal partners. By better understanding this relationship, gardeners can take advantage of the benefits of fungi, which include an increased uptake in nutrients, resistance to drought, earlier fruiting, and more. Learn how the fungi interact with plants and how to best to employ them in your home garden.

In the English edition of his landmark book Endosymbiosis of Animals with Plant Microorganisms (1965), Professor Paul Buchner, probably the most prominent founder of systematic symbiosis research, wrote: “I too soon fell victim to the spell of this subject, and from 1911 on devoted myself to it.” Almost half a century later, a growing number of entomologists are recognizing the impact that arthropod-bacteria symbiosis has on virtually all aspects of the biology of both host and symbiont. The discussion of this subject tends to be system based, with primary emphasis on the insect host. However, recent screening studies have revealed that the diversity of bacteria associated with arthropods may not be as wide as initially expected, and some genera are constantly being found in hosts that belong to distantly related taxa. Manipulative Tenants: Bacteria Associated with Arthropods introduces the fascinating world of bacteria-arthropod associations with an emphasis on the bacterial partner. Written by an interdisciplinary team of international contributors, this book provides an overview of the diversity of bacterial symbionts identified to date as frequent partners of terrestrial arthropods. It discusses primary (obligatory) symbionts as well as the most abundant secondary (facultative) symbionts currently known. Summarizing the most up-to-date information available on each symbiont, the book presents a synopsis of the field from the bacterial angle. Chapters examine Proteobacteria, including Sodalis and Wigglesworthia in tsetse flies and Stammerula and other symbiotic bacteria in fruit flies, as well as Bacteroidetes such as Blattabacterium and Cardinium. The book also identifies questions that emerge from the study of these systems. This comprehensive reference introduces the topic of bacteria-arthropod associations to researchers who are not familiar with it, enlarges the scope of knowledge of those who are, and provides a textbook for students in microbiology and other branches of biology.

Written for curious souls of all ages, this title opens readers eyes--and noses and ears--to this hidden world. Useful illustrations accompany Dyer's lively text.

The question “Why did God create viruses, bacteria, pathogens, venomous creatures and poisonous chemicals is usually asked by irreligious skeptics to challenge God’s authority, design, and goodness. It is also asked by those of faith, either out of innocent ignorance or curiosity. Life per se is a balance of life-forms co-existing because they were created by God by means of obvious intelligent design. The authors show the vast majority of bacteria, viruses, and insects are beneficial. The reason some pathogens are harmful is discussed in some detail. Furthermore, the role of toxic chemicals, which are beneficial and even essential to human and animal life at low to moderate concentrations is also covered. The authors’ conclusions are well-documented by several hundred peer-reviewed scholarly articles and books. if you have ever wondered about why in God’s creation there are “parasites and pathogens,” “ticks and toxins,” “maladies and mosquitoes,” then you owe it to yourself to consider the scholarly explanations that set the record straight—the professional perspective of Bergman and Hoff. If you are looking for sound scientific answers to the question “Why did God create life-forms that have harmful side-effects to other organisms?,” this is the book to read.

The global spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogenic bacteria is a continuing challenge to the health care of humans and domesticated animals. With no new agents on the horizon, it is imperative to use antimicrobial agents wisely to preserve their future efficacy. Led by Editors Stefan Schwarz, Lina Maria Cavaco, and Jianzhong Shen with Frank Møller Aarestrup, an international team of experts in antimicrobial resistance of livestock and companion animals has created this valuable reference for veterinary students and practitioners as well as researchers and decision makers interested in understanding and preventing antimicrobial resistance.