Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) perform key soil ecosystem services and, because of their symbiotic relationship with plant roots, may be exposed to the plant protection products (PPPs) applied to soils and crops. In 2017, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released a scientific opinion addressing the state of the science on risk assessment of PPPs for in-soil organisms, recommending the inclusion of AMF ecotoxicological testing in the PPP regulatory process. However, it is not clear how this can be implemented in a tiered, robust, and ecologically relevant manner. Through a critical review of current literature, we examine the recommendations made within the EFSA report and the methodologies available to integrate AMF into the PPP risk assessment and provide perspective and commentary on their agronomic and ecological relevance. We conclude that considerable research questions remain to be addressed prior to the inclusion of AMF into the in-soil organism risk assessment, many of which stem from the unique challenges associated with including an obligate symbiont within the PPP risk assessment. Finally, we highlight critical knowledge gaps and the further research required to enable development of relevant, reliable, and robust scientific tests alongside pragmatic and scientifically sound guidance to ensure that any future risk-assessment paradigm is adequately protective of the ecosystem services it aims to preserve. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:1808\uffe2\uff80\uff931823. \uffc2\uffa9 2022 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.Selective herbivory of palatable plant species provides a competitive advantage for unpalatable plant species, which often have slow growth rates and produce slowly decomposable litter. We hypothesized that through a shift in the vegetation community from palatable, deciduous dwarf shrubs to unpalatable, evergreen dwarf shrubs, selective herbivory may counteract the increased shrub abundance that is otherwise found in tundra ecosystems, in turn interacting with the responses of ecosystem carbon (C) stocks and CO2 balance to climatic warming. We tested this hypothesis in a 19\uffe2\uff80\uff90year field experiment with factorial treatments of warming and simulated herbivory on the dominant deciduous dwarf shrub Vaccinium\uffc2\uffa0myrtillus. Warming was associated with a significantly increased vegetation abundance, with the strongest effect on deciduous dwarf shrubs, resulting in greater rates of both gross ecosystem production (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) as well as increased C stocks. Simulated herbivory increased the abundance of evergreen dwarf shrubs, most importantly Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum, which led to a recent shift in the dominant vegetation from deciduous to evergreen dwarf shrubs. Simulated herbivory caused no effect on GEP and ER or the total ecosystem C stocks, indicating that the vegetation shift counteracted the herbivore\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced C loss from the system. A larger proportion of the total ecosystem C stock was found aboveground, rather than belowground, in plots treated with simulated herbivory. We conclude that by providing a competitive advantage to unpalatable plant species with slow growth rates and long life spans, selective herbivory may promote aboveground C stocks in a warming tundra ecosystem and, through this mechanism, counteract C losses that result from plant biomass consumption.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "570", "Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum", "Biodiversity", "carbon storage", "15. Life on land", "herbivores", "Global Warming", "01 natural sciences", "Carbon Cycle", "Magnoliopsida", "climate change", "13. Climate action", "grazing", "Vaccinium myrtillus L", "Biomass", "Herbivory", "CO2 flux", "Tundra", "ta119", "Finland"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12964"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Change%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/gcb.12964", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.12964", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.12964"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2015-06-19T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.3390/genes10010068", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-25T16:20:59Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-01-22", "title": "Convergent Evolution of the Seed Shattering Trait", "description": "Loss of seed shattering is a key trait in crop domestication, particularly for grain crops. For wild plants, seed shattering is a crucial mechanism to achieve greater fitness, although in the agricultural context, this mechanism reduces harvesting efficiency, especially under dry conditions. Loss of seed shattering was acquired independently in different monocotyledon and dicotyledon crop species by \uffe2\uff80\uff98convergent phenotypic evolution\uffe2\uff80\uff99, leading to similar low dehiscent and indehiscent phenotypes. Here, the main aim is to review the current knowledge about seed shattering in crops, in order to highlight the tissue modifications that underlie the convergent phenotypic evolution of reduced shattering in different types of fruit, from the silique of Brassicaceae species, to the pods of legumes and spikes of cereals. Emphasis is given to legumes, with consideration of recent data obtained for the common bean. The current review also discusses to what extent convergent phenotypes arose from parallel changes at the histological and/or molecular levels. For this reason, an overview is included of the main findings relating to the genetic control of seed shattering in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana and in other important crops.
", "keywords": ["QTL mapping", "common bean", "2. Zero hunger", "0301 basic medicine", "0303 health sciences", "legumes", "Quantitative Trait Loci", "Common bean; Crop domestication; Gene expression; Legumes; Pod anatomy; QTL mapping; Genetics; Genetics (clinical)", "legume", "Review", "QH426-470", "pod anatomy", "15. Life on land", "Evolution", " Molecular", "crop domestication", "Magnoliopsida", "03 medical and health sciences", "Seed Dispersal", "Seeds", "Genetics", "gene expression"]}, "links": [{"href": "http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/10/1/68/pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.3390/genes10010068"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Genes", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.3390/genes10010068", "name": "item", "description": "10.3390/genes10010068", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.3390/genes10010068"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-01-19T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "PMC9543394", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-07-25T16:28:14Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-06-09", "title": "Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and the Need for a Meaningful Regulatory Plant Protection Product Testing Strategy", "description": "AbstractArbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) perform key soil ecosystem services and, because of their symbiotic relationship with plant roots, may be exposed to the plant protection products (PPPs) applied to soils and crops. In 2017, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released a scientific opinion addressing the state of the science on risk assessment of PPPs for in-soil organisms, recommending the inclusion of AMF ecotoxicological testing in the PPP regulatory process. However, it is not clear how this can be implemented in a tiered, robust, and ecologically relevant manner. Through a critical review of current literature, we examine the recommendations made within the EFSA report and the methodologies available to integrate AMF into the PPP risk assessment and provide perspective and commentary on their agronomic and ecological relevance. We conclude that considerable research questions remain to be addressed prior to the inclusion of AMF into the in-soil organism risk assessment, many of which stem from the unique challenges associated with including an obligate symbiont within the PPP risk assessment. Finally, we highlight critical knowledge gaps and the further research required to enable development of relevant, reliable, and robust scientific tests alongside pragmatic and scientifically sound guidance to ensure that any future risk-assessment paradigm is adequately protective of the ecosystem services it aims to preserve. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:1808\uffe2\uff80\uff931823. \uffc2\uffa9 2022 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.