Nutrients Cycle in Soil-Plant Systems

To provide a multidisciplinary teaching approach to the topics, the program will involve alternating lectures delivered by the professors participating in the course.
THE RHIZOSPHERE: INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PLANT-SOIL-MICROORGANISMS (CFU=1)
- Root development: characteristics, genetic and hormonal control. Root growth responses to environmental factors. The rhizosphere: characteristics and study methods. Biochemical activities of the root influencing the rhizosphere. Rhizodeposition.
- Microbial niches in the soil-plant system. Rhizosphere effect on microbial communities. Common microbial taxa in the rhizosphere and in the plant.
- Ecological interactions among microorganisms and with plants. Environmental conditions that influence microbial populations. Methods to study microorganisms in the soil-plant system.
PLANT MINERAL NUTRITION: GENERAL ASPECTS, SOIL FERTILITY, BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES OF NUTRIENTS, PLANT ACQUISITION OF NUTRIENTS (CFU=3.5)
- Plant mineral nutrition: essential elements and beneficial elements. Classification and physiological functions. Laboratory analyses to determine mineral nutrient contents in plant tissues.
- The availability of mineral nutrients in soil. Plant nutritional demands and interactions among mineral nutrients. Deficiency and toxicity of mineral nutrients. Nutrient use efficiency in plants.
- Metabolic diversity of microorganisms in oxic and anoxic environments. Microbial activities contributing to soil fertility: microbial carbon fixation.
- Organic matter mineralization: microbial metabolisms in aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Humus formation.
- Microbial nitrogen metabolism in oxic and anoxic environments. Diazotrophy. Denitrification. Ammonification. Nitrification. Interventions in the nitrification process by the formulation of ammoniacal fertilizers.
- Nitrogen acquisition in plants. Root nitrate uptake: transport and regulation. Nitrogen reduction and assimilation: enzymes and metabolic regulation. Ammonium management in plants. Contribution of organic nitrogen to plant nutrition.
- Microbial sulfur metabolism. Assimilatory and dissimilatory sulfate reduction. Sulfur oxidation. Solubilization of inorganic phosphate and potassium. Mineralization of organic phosphate.
- Role of microorganisms in the bioavailability of plants micronutrients. Microbial iron metabolism. Iron oxidation. Dissimilatory iron reduction.
- Acquisition and metabolism of sulfur in plants. The role of sulfur in detoxifying toxic substances in plants.
- Phosphorus acquisition in plants. Phosphate absorption and transport in plants. Plant responses to phosphorus deficiency: root architecture and biochemical responses.
- Acquisition and roles of cationic macronutrients: magnesium, calcium, potassium. Functions in plants and responses to starvation.
- Micronutrients: roles, plant acquisition, and responses to deficiency. Focus on iron: species with Strategy I and II and nutritional interactions.
SOILS WITH REDUCED FERTILITY: ENVIRONMENTAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL ASPECTS, PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL RESPONSES OF PLANTS (CFU=1.25)
- Effect of water stress, salinity, and soil acidity on rhizospheric microbial communities.
- Water deficit stress: causes and effects on soil characteristics, root development, and plant physiology.
- Halophytes and glycophytes plant species. Salinity stress: the osmotic and ionic phases. Physiological and metabolic effects on plants. Plant strategies for stress response and adaptation.
- Waterlogging and flooding stresses. Plant metabolic responses and their regulation. Morphological and developmental changes. Roles of ethylene.
- Acid soil-induced stress. Aluminum toxicity: effects on plant growth and nutritional status. Adaptation mechanisms: detoxification and accumulation.
PLANT GROWTH PROMOTION: PLANT-MICROORGANISM RELATIONSHIPS, INOCULANTS, BIO-FERTILIZERS, AND BIOSTIMULANTS (CFU=1.75)
- Plant growth-promoting microorganisms: direct (production of plant hormone-like molecules increased nutrient availability) and indirect (pathogen competition, induction of systemic resistance) mechanisms. Communication among microorganisms and with the plant: quorum sensing, molecular signals and plant-microbe recognition.
- Secondary metabolism in root interactions: defining secondary metabolites and examples of their roles in defense and communication in the soil.
- Plant-microbe symbiosis: rhizobia and nitrogen fixation, and mycorrhizae.
- Plant physiological aspects related to establishing associations and symbiosis with soil microorganisms.
- Climate change: effects on plant mineral nutrition and rhizospheric interactions.
- Biostimulants: definition, categories, use in agriculture in relation to plant mineral nutrition and stress responses.
- Microbial bioinoculation practices: bioinoculants, suppressive soils and soil transplanting.
IMPACT OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES: INORGANIC AND ORGANIC POLLUTANTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON PLANT GROWTH, CONTAINMENT TECHNIQUES, ECOSYSTEM SERVICES OF MICROORGANISMS FOR AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY (CFU=1.5)
- Use of manure and sewage sludge in agriculture: spread of pathogens, role of microorganisms in pollution leading to nitrogen losses in water and air.
- Microbial reactions influencing heavy metal and metalloid bioavailability. Microbial biodegradation of organic contaminants. Microbe-assisted phytoremediation.
₋ Heavy metals. Factors involved in heavy metal distribution in plants. Toxicity, detoxification, and tolerance mechanisms.
- Heavy metals and phytoremediation: basic concepts and application. Heavy metals and food safety.
- Organic contaminants: implications for agricultural productivity and safety.

LABORATORY ACTIVITIES (CFU=1): integrated laboratory activities in plant physiology and microbiology, focusing on aspects of mineral nutrition and plant responses to abiotic stress factors.