Biology subjects

Borruso, L.

Publications and source records attributed to Borruso, L..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Sedimentary ancient DNA reveals rhizosphere-like plant-microbe association signals in a 2-million-year-old Arctic ecosystem

Plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere are central to nutrient cycling and ecosystem functioning. Sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) is a promising yet underexplored tool for reconstructing past microbial communities and investigating ecological interactions among plants, animals, and microorganisms. Here, we reanalyse the previously published Kap Kobenhavn Formation (Northern Greenland) sedaDNA dataset to move beyond taxonomic ecosystem reconstruction and test whether ancient sediments preserve structured, rhizosphere-compatible plant-microbe association signals. Our results show that this ancient boreal ecosystem hosted several rhizosphere-associated taxa, comparable to those in modern boreal soils. Several bacterial genera co-occurred repeatedly with specific plant families, forming a rhizosphere-like taxonomic core with predicted plant-growth-promoting traits related to nutrient acquisition, colonisation, and stress tolerance. Although sedaDNA co-occurrence cannot demonstrate direct symbiosis, the consistency of taxonomic, network, and functional signals suggests that ancient sediments preserve interconnected ecological structure. Our findings extend sedaDNA-based ecosystem reconstruction beyond taxonomy and provide a possibility for investigating plant-microbe association signals in deep time.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Unravelling the ancient fungal DNA from the Iceman's gut

Here, we explore the possible ancient fungal species in the gut of Otzi, the Iceman, a naturally mummified human found in the Tyrolean Alps (border between Italy and Austria). While ancient DNA (aDNA) has been extensively used to study human, animal, and plant evolution, this research focuses on ancient microbial diversity, specifically fungi. Fungal DNA is often underestimated in metagenomic samples, however here we hypothesise the possibility of retrieving ancient fungal sequences from Otzis gut. A robust bioinformatic pipeline has been developed to detect and authenticate fungal aDNA from stomach, small intestine, and large intestine samples. We revealed the presence of Pseudogymnoascus genus, with P. destructans and P. verrucosus as possible species, that were particularly abundant in the stomach and small intestine. We suggest that Otzi may have consumed these fungi accidentally, likely in association with other elements of his diet, and they thrived in his gut after his death due to their adaptability to harsh and cold environments. This research provides insight into the coexistence of ancient humans with specific fungal species and proposes and validates a conservative bioinformatic approach for detecting fungal aDNA in historical metagenomic samples. Significance statementDespite their essential interactions with all kingdoms of life, limited molecular studies have focused on ancient fungi. Here, we developed a thorough bioinformatic pipeline that allowed us to detect the presence of ancient DNA likely belonging to Pseudogymnoascus destructans and P. verrucosus in the gut of Otzi, a human naturally mummified over 3,000 years ago in the Tyrolean Alps. Both species can survive harsh environmental conditions, and P. destructans is known for its pathogenicity, suggesting that Otzi may have accidentally ingested them and providing valuable insights into how ancient humans coexisted with specific fungal species. We propose a highly reliable methodology for detecting ancient fungal DNA in metagenomic studies of historical samples that can have broader applications to understand ancient ecosystems and their interactions.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2022

Dealing with the promise of metabarcoding in mega-event biomonitoring: EXPO2015 unedited data

As human activities on our planet persist, causing widespread and irreversible environmental degradation, the need to biomonitor ecosystems has never been more pressing. These circumstances have required a renewal in monitoring techniques, encouraged by necessity to develop more rapid and accurate tools which will support timely observations of ecosystem structure and function. The World Exposition (from now EXPO2015) hosted in Milan from May to October 2015 was a global event that could be categorized as a mega-event, which can be defined as an acute environmental stressor, possibly generating biodiversity alteration and disturbance. During the six months of EXPO2015, exhibitors from more than 135 countries and 22 million visitors insisted on a 1.1 million square meters area. Faced with such a massive event, we explore the potential of DNA metabarcoding using three molecular markers to improve the understanding of anthropogenic impacts in the area, both considering air and water monitoring. Furthermore, we explore the effectiveness of the taxonomy assignment phase considering different taxonomic levels of analysis and the use of data mining approaches to predict sample origin. Unless the degree of taxa identification still remains open, our results showed that DNA metabarcoding is a powerful genomic-based tool to monitor biodiversity at the microscale, allowing us to capture exact fingerprints of specific event sites and to explore in a comprehensive manner the eukaryotic community alteration. With this work, we aim to disentangle and overcome the crucial issues related to the generalization of DNA metabarcoding in order to support future applications.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2021

The hidden effects of agrochemicals on plant metabolism and root-associated microorganisms

Agrochemicals are commonly used in agriculture to protect crops and ensure yields. Several of them are mobile within the plant and, being perceived as xenobiotics regardless of their protective/curative roles, they induce a reprogramming of secondary metabolism linked to the detoxification processes even in the absence of phenotype symptoms. Moreover, it is well documented that plants, thanks to the root exudation of different metabolites, are able to shape the microbial population at the rhizosphere and to significantly affect the processes occurring therein. Here we show that plant metabolic response to foliarly-applied pesticides is much broader than what previously thought and includes diverse and compound-specific hidden processes. Among others, stress-related metabolism and phytohormones profile underwent a considerable reorganization. Moreover, a distinctive microbial rearrangement of the rhizosphere was recorded following foliar application of pesticides. Such effects have unavoidably energetic and metabolic costs for the plant paving the way to both positive and negative aspects. The understanding of these effects is crucial for an increasingly sustainable use of pesticides in agriculture. HighlightThe foliar application of pesticides induces a broad metabolic reprogramming in plant and shapes the microbial population of the rhizosphere.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Soil respiration variation along an altitudinal gradient in Italian Alps: Disentangling forest structure and temperature effects

To understand the main determinants of soil respiration (SR), we investigated the changes of soil respiration and soil physicochemical properties, including soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), root C and N, litter C and N, soil bulk densities and soil pH at five forest sites, along an elevation/temperature gradient (404 to 2101 m a.s.l) in Northern Italy, where confounding factors such as aspect and soil parent material are minimized, but an ample variation in forest structure and composition is present. Our result indicated that SR rates increased with temperature in all sites, and about 55% - 76% of SR was explained by temperature. Annual cumulative SR, ranging between 0.65 and 1.40 kg C m-2 yr-1, declined along the elevation gradient, while temperature sensitivity (Q10) of SR increased with elevation. However, a high SR rate (1.27 kg C m-2 yr-1) and low Q10 were recorded in the old conifer forest stand at 1731 m a.s.l., characterized by a complex structure and high productivity, introducing nonlinearity in the relations with elevation and temperature. Reference SR at the temperature of 10{degrees}C (SRref) was not related to elevation. A significant linear negative relationship was found for bulk density with elevation. On the contrary, soil C, soil N, root C, root N, pH and litter mass were better fitted by nonlinear relations with elevation. However, it was not possible to confirm a significant correlation of SR with these parameters once the effect of temperature has been removed (SRref). These results show how the main factor affecting SR in forest ecosystems along this Alpine elevation gradient is temperature, but its regulating role can be strongly influenced by site biological characteristics, particularly vegetation type and structure. This study also confirms that high elevation sites are rich in C stored in the soil and also more sensitive to climate change, being prone to high carbon losses as CO2. Conversely, forest ecosystems with a complex structure, with high SRref and moderate Q10, can be more resilient.

ecology↗