Here is an external link lead to a recent open access article that helps us peer into some interesting findings about plant immunity:
The video at the upper section of the page is a very nice simplification of this soil to leaf transition.
It seems to me that, upon reading the conclusion parts of this very cool area of science, is that the transition of microbiota for the warm blooded mammals or any kind of living thing that carries a live circulatory system, have easy methods of the transferring of these beneficial organisms.
By contrast (mammals vs plants) the plants are reliant more on the legs of ants, wings of bees, or hands of humans as in grafting or pruning to sometimes fill in the gap for this need of transition.
We are likely becoming smart now. Not just our departments of sciences around the world can figure out how to transition the proper balances of microbes but as a society such as we are we begin to understand how grafting can serve as a short circumvention in a good way when selecting from trees that have already been enhanced.
What this means is that exchanges of scions of some materials are extremely beneficial to the fruit industry and not just these science studies that use these industry standard perennial plants. I mean nothing in the article states exactly as such but the full context of references and where the research money goes states exactly that. That humans have been doing exchanges for hundreds of years.
In biblical times there were grafting of the bad fruits referring to olives until nothing could be salvaged. So there were times of old that we spread viruses, but other (in better times) spread good fortune.
Fortunately in this country it was discovered around the 1940s that we had to clean up because plant viruses were discovered. This knowledge we have of how to circumvent what plants lack in circulation is quite cool I think.
Thanks Rooney, I will check this out.
I bet birds play a role in spreading microbes to plants. Many birds spend the whole day scratching in the dirt for insects and seeds, then fly up into the shrubs and trees. And of course they poop everywhere they go. They also use the branches to wipe off their beaks.
Recently I have learned more about microbe communities on the roots of water plants. They call these communities "biofilm" because they cover pretty much all surfaces of the roots. These communities seem to be very efficient at extracting nutrients from the water. Thus water plants are used in pond biofilters and "floating wetlands" to help reduce nutrients in the water, and thus toxic algae blooms. I sort of accidentally discovered what they can do when I put some water grass in pots in the top of my pond biofilter. A week later the water was crystal clear.
Many medical professionals talk about biofilms in our bodies. Perhaps the same mechanisms can be occurring in our soils. I would bet that diversity is the key to stopping them. The medical people often recommend things like garlic, cloves, ginger and strong flavored foods and supplements. Our modern medical system only treats conditions in which it sees very large profits. I wonder if, with our giant monocultures, we have eliminated the types of plants that safeguarded the soil from being taken over by diseases? Many ecologists have talked about this. Rachel Carson referred to the "balance of nature".
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Many medical professionals talk about biofilms in our bodies.
So are biofilms in our bodies generally harmful to us? For plant roots, they seem to be generally beneficial to the plant and to the environment where the plant lives. Although I suppose "beneficial" depends on which organism you are 🙂
Thanks Rooney, I will check this out.
Hey Davem, you're very welcome!
I should have done this sooner but better late than never so the following post shall possibly illuminate which are (if any) the favorite scientific points out all the 15 pages from that video.
@ John S: You can also use this by quoting any section of what comes into the next post if you possibly need to simplify the last response you made because I'm still unclear on the part of R. Carson's books to what's happening in complex interactions that start in soils or where ever they may be. I'm always curious about what you have to say too if there's any more to be said about biofilms. Dave did state "biofilter" -not film, you know.
Transcript:
Movin' on up:
Early transition of
bacteria from the soil
shapes leaf microbial
communities
Plant leaves house diverse communities of micro-
organisms that influence the whole plant's health
The bacteria in the leaf microbiome play
especially important roles in helping plants
survive environmental stresses and pest attacks
These bacteria mainly come from soil, but little is
known about when they transition to leaves or how
Now, a study has narrowed this knowledge gap
Researchers found that many leaf bacteria can originate
from soil near germinating seeds-and they're incredibly
efficient at this, starting from just a handful of cells -
suggesting this transition is important for them in nature
The team also found that the time period soon
after germination is probably critical for the
assembly of diverse leaf bacterial communities—
during this stage, the soil-to-leaf transition
can either be driven by stochastic processes,
largely shaped by bacterial competition-
or by deterministic processes
shaped more by plant physiology
In fact, the addition of even tiny amounts
of the bacterial strain Pv3D9 to natural
soil changed some plant processes,
with 'ripple' effects on the movement
of bacteria that depend on them
These findings show that factors shaping leaf bacterial
communities are at play long before leaves emerge,
suggesting new ideas for early targeted
interventions to improve plant health
Mayer et al. "Deterministic colonization arises early during
the transition of soil bacteria to the phyllosphere and is
shaped by plant-microbe interactions." Microbiome (2025)
Rooney said
Dave did state "biofilter" -not film, you know.
Actually I said both biofilm and biofilter. The biofilter is basically the container for the material which has a lot of surface area, and which becomes the "real estate" for the microbes which form a biofilm on all the surfaces.
I first used red lava rock as my surface area, since it has a lot of surface area. It helped a little (in removing suspended algae), but not a lot. It wasn't until I put the potted water grass in the top of the biofilter that the water turned crystal clear. Here are some photos showing my pond before and after turning on the pump which circulates water through the biofilter. The 2nd to last photo is what it looks like after a few days of running through the biofilter. https://photos.app.goo.gl/7VMm.....iZd1VJPii9
I have never put anything into my pond other than water and the plants in the biofilter. It hosts tons of birds (bathing & drinking), two species of native frogs (reproducing), one native salamander species (reproducing), and dozens of other tiny creatures that I haven't identified.
Here are some microscope images of biofilm on the leaves of a water plant from a river:
One of these days I'll pull some roots off my biofilter plants and get some microscope images of the biofilm on the roots.
Where do you learn these about lava rock or is it just absorbing content from this video that seeded your idea?
With the help of talking about oxygen content in stream water and all of these other mechanisms of navigation reminds me of effluent as in septic systems. The effluent is not fully treated until it starts to interact with a much more oxygen rich environment, as it is in the case when effluent flows out of the tank (anaerobic), and into the soil leach area (aerobic).
The flushing process from the home is just gravity but when soil percolation is poor or soil oxygen is lacking then superficial effluent mounds are created - in which case pumps are required such as yours in that bucket.
I wonder if it's a very expensive price having oxygen or carbon dioxide sensors to monitor the effect of what's going on in these superficial environments when the pumps are plugged in vs. unplugged?
I wonder because it seems curious if the ratio of oxygen to carbon dioxide in the pond water would match the water clarity, which may be impossible to measure otherwise without specialized sensors.
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