Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Epiphytes, Parasites, and Carnivores02:40

Epiphytes, Parasites, and Carnivores

Plants often form mutualistic relationships with soil-dwelling fungi or bacteria to enhance their roots’ nutrient uptake ability. Root-colonizing fungi (e.g., mycorrhizae) increase a plant’s root surface area, which promotes nutrient absorption. While root-colonizing, nitrogen-fixing bacteria (e.g., rhizobia) convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into ammonia (NH3), making nitrogen available to plants for various biological functions. For example, nitrogen is essential for the biosynthesis of the...
Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores02:26

Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores

Plants present a rich source of nutrients for many organisms, making it a target for herbivores and infectious agents. Plants, though lacking a proper immune system, have developed an array of constitutive and inducible defenses to fend off these attacks.
Responses to Gravity and Touch02:26

Responses to Gravity and Touch

Gravitropism: Plant Responses to Gravity
Water and Mineral Acquisition02:34

Water and Mineral Acquisition

Specialized tissues in plant roots have evolved to capture water, minerals, and some ions from the soil. Roots exhibit a variety of branching patterns that facilitate this process. The outermost root cells have specialized structures called root hairs that increase the root surface, thus increasing soil contact. Water can passively cross into roots, as the concentration of water in the soil is higher than that of the root tissue. Minerals, in contrast, are actively transported into root cells.
Microbe-Plant Interactions01:09

Microbe-Plant Interactions

Microbe-plant interactions represent a dynamic spectrum of associations shaped by intricate chemical signaling. These interactions can be neutral, beneficial, or detrimental, and profoundly influence plant physiology, growth, and ecosystem function. The plant microbiome, comprising bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, and viruses, plays a pivotal role in mediating these effects through surface colonization, internal colonization, or systemic symbiosis.Mutualistic associations, particularly with...
Responses to Salt Stress02:02

Responses to Salt Stress

Salt stress—which can be triggered by high salt concentrations in a plant’s environment—can significantly affect plant growth and crop production by influencing photosynthesis and the absorption of water and nutrients.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Plants That Evolved Under High Phylogenetic Diversity Have Higher Invasion Success, Particularly in Undisturbed Communities.

Ecology letters·2026
Same author

Nutrient fluctuations alter effects of litter diversity of invasive species on native communities.

Oecologia·2026
Same author

The global geography of plant invasion risk under future climate and land-use changes.

Nature ecology & evolution·2026
Same author

Reconciling links between diversity and population stability across global plant communities.

The New phytologist·2026
Same author

Differences in characteristics between naturalized threatened plants and other threatened plants.

Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·2025
Same author

Pathogen dilution, resource partitioning, and precipitation generate productivity benefits from plant diversity.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025
Same journal

CitRWP directly activates CsDAZ3 to promote somatic embryogenesis in Citrus.

The New phytologist·2026
Same journal

Defective cuticle-derived signals enhance extracellular ATP response and plant immunity.

The New phytologist·2026
Same journal

Mechanisms and scales in modeling forest responses to changing disturbance regimes.

The New phytologist·2026
Same journal

Which, when, and where traits matter: functional trait-mediated species associations shift with microenvironmental and climatic variation.

The New phytologist·2026
Same journal

The molecular regulation of axillary bud fate determination and outgrowth into branch crown in strawberry involves BRC1.

The New phytologist·2026
Same journal

Global population structures and demographic history of Suillus luteus, a pine co-introduced ectomycorrhizal fungus associated with exotic forestry and invasion.

The New phytologist·2026
See all related articles
  1. Home
  3. Invasive Plants Have Stronger Root Recognition Capabilities Than Native Plants.
  1. Home
  3. Invasive Plants Have Stronger Root Recognition Capabilities Than Native Plants.

Related Experiment Video

Inoculation Strategies to Infect Plant Roots with Soil-Borne Microorganisms
08:16

Inoculation Strategies to Infect Plant Roots with Soil-Borne Microorganisms

Published on: March 1, 2022

Invasive plants have stronger root recognition capabilities than native plants.

Jun-Nan Liu1,2, Mark van Kleunen3,4, James D Bever5

  • 1School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, Zhejiang, China.

The New Phytologist
|May 22, 2026

View abstract on PubMed

Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Invasive plants better recognize and avoid their own roots than native plants, even when soil microbes change. This helps invasive species outcompete natives.

Keywords:
belowground interactionsconspecific discriminationroot segregationsoil‐legacy effectspatial distribution

More Related Videos

A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits
11:09

A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits

Published on: February 10, 2023

Related Experiment Videos

Inoculation Strategies to Infect Plant Roots with Soil-Borne Microorganisms
08:16

Inoculation Strategies to Infect Plant Roots with Soil-Borne Microorganisms

Published on: March 1, 2022

A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits
11:09

A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits

Published on: February 10, 2023

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Plant Biology
  • Invasive Species Research

Background:

  • Intraspecific competition can be reduced by root-mediated recognition and avoidance.
  • Dominant invasive plants may possess enhanced root recognition and segregation capabilities compared to native species.
  • The influence of soil microbial legacies on these root interactions is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare root recognition and segregation between invasive and native plants.
  • To investigate the role of soil microbial legacies in mediating these root interactions.
  • To understand how these mechanisms contribute to the dominance of invasive plants.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a split-root assay to assess root allocation strategies.
  • Conducted intraspecific root-distribution experiments in conditioned and unconditioned soils.
  • Analyzed soil fungal and bacterial community composition to understand microbial influences.

    • Main Results:

    • Invasive plants demonstrated stronger root recognition, reducing root allocation towards conspecifics compared to natives.
    • Both invasive and native plants segregated roots in unconditioned soils.
    • Native plants lost root segregation in soils conditioned by other plants, while invasives remained unaffected.
    • Changes in native root segregation correlated with alterations in soil microbial communities.

    Conclusions:

    • Invasive plants possess robust mechanisms for avoiding intraspecific competition, independent of soil microbial legacies.
    • Native plant root segregation can be disrupted by soil microbial legacies, potentially impairing their competitive ability.
    • These findings suggest a mechanism contributing to the competitive superiority and dominance of invasive plant species.