The mediating role of fungal microbiome in the relation between crop health and soil nutrients

The mediating role of fungal microbiome in the relation between crop health and soil nutrients | 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 The mediating role of fungal microbiome in the relation between crop health and soil nutrients Mathies Sørensen, Giovanni Schiesaro, David Faurdal, Pablo Cruz-Morales, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7489281/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Ensuring a stable and nutritious food supply requires sustainable agricultural practices, with soil fungi emerging as promising bio-fertilizers that can enhance crop health. In this study, we assess how the fungal microbiome mediates the relationship between environmental factors and crop health in wheat fields. Using a structural equation model, we analyzed fungal genera together with abiotic variables (weather, soil nutrients, and field type), while crop health was estimated via NDVI values from satellite imagery, providing a cost-effective approach for field monitoring. Our findings from both conventional and ecological wheat fields confirm our hypothesis that the fungal microbiome mediates the effects of environmental factors, such as soil nutrients, seasonality, and weather, on crop health. Notably, we observe a consistent positive association between the fungal genus Mortierella and crop health. Positive associations were also found for Candida , Leucothecium , and Phialemonium , while Thermomyces and Trichocladium correlated negatively. Mortierella had the greatest impact, highlighting its potential as a key biofertilizer. Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Agroecology Biological sciences/Computational biology and bioinformatics/Machine learning Biological sciences/Computational biology and bioinformatics/Computational models Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Supplementary.pdf SUPPLEMENTARY Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted 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-7489281","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":509542750,"identity":"c2390bc6-ba27-487c-a633-45607a1c7914","order_by":0,"name":"Mathies 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Positive associations were also found for \u003ci\u003eCandida\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLeucothecium\u003c/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003ePhialemonium\u003c/i\u003e, while \u003ci\u003eThermomyces\u003c/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTrichocladium\u003c/i\u003e correlated negatively. \u003ci\u003eMortierella\u003c/i\u003e had the greatest impact, highlighting its potential as a key biofertilizer.","manuscriptTitle":"The mediating role of fungal microbiome in the relation between crop health and soil nutrients","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-04 02:39:18","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7489281/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"b4d1a63a-c8dd-424d-9c83-77f9a43437a2","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 4th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":54117593,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Agroecology"},{"id":54117594,"name":"Biological sciences/Computational biology and bioinformatics/Machine learning"},{"id":54117595,"name":"Biological sciences/Computational biology and bioinformatics/Computational models"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-17T05:53:53+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-04 02:39:18","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7489281","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7489281","identity":"rs-7489281","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}