Root exudates simultaneously form and disrupt soil organo-mineral associations

Root exudates simultaneously form and disrupt soil organo-mineral associations | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Root exudates simultaneously form and disrupt soil organo-mineral associations Itamar Shabtai, Benjamin Hafner, Steffen Schweizer, Carmen Hoeschen, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4613177/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 13 Nov, 2024 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Plant root exudates can form organo-mineral associations (OMAs) through physico-chemical interactions with soil mineral surfaces but can disrupt existing OMAs by increasing microbial decomposition and dissolution of OMAs. The controls on these seemingly opposing processes are not well understood, nor are OMA chemical and spatial characteristics that may explain net soil organic matter (SOM) gain or loss at the root-soil interface termed the rhizosphere. By labeling maize plants with 13 CO 2 , we found that exudates caused a net SOM gain in the rhizosphere’s clay size fraction which contained high-activity minerals. The OMAs formed on rhizosphere clay particles were linked to microbial metabolism of exudates and were more spatially and chemically heterogeneous than non-rhizosphere OMAs. In contrast, we found a net SOM loss in the rhizosphere’s silt size fraction which contained low-activity minerals and that dry soil conditions mitigated this rhizosphere SOM loss. Our findings show that root exudates can simultaneously form and disrupt OMAs, mediated by mineral composition and soil moisture. Earth and environmental sciences/Biogeochemistry/Carbon cycle Earth and environmental sciences/Biogeochemistry/Element cycles Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files 01SI.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 13 Nov, 2024 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4613177","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":317387408,"identity":"ba787b79-aebe-485f-9338-5b17cc148759","order_by":0,"name":"Itamar 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The controls on these seemingly opposing processes are not well understood, nor are OMA chemical and spatial characteristics that may explain net soil organic matter (SOM) gain or loss at the root-soil interface termed the rhizosphere. By labeling maize plants with \u003csup\u003e13\u003c/sup\u003eCO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, we found that exudates caused a net SOM gain in the rhizosphere’s clay size fraction which contained high-activity minerals. The OMAs formed on rhizosphere clay particles were linked to microbial metabolism of exudates and were more spatially and chemically heterogeneous than non-rhizosphere OMAs. In contrast, we found a net SOM loss in the rhizosphere’s silt size fraction which contained low-activity minerals and that dry soil conditions mitigated this rhizosphere SOM loss. 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