Kathryn Wigley

• Doctor of Philosophy
• PostDoc Position at University of Canterbury

Background Pollen is a crucial source of nutrients and energy for pollinators. It also provides a unique habitat and resource for microbiota. Previous research on the microbiome of pollen has largely focused on angiosperm systems, with limited research into coniferous gymnosperms. This study characterises the pollen microbiome and metabolome associ...

Temperate forest soils are considered significant methane (CH4) sinks, but other methane sources and sinks within these forests, such as trees, litter, deadwood, and the production of volatile organic compounds are not well understood. Improved understanding of all CH4 fluxes in temperate forests could help mitigate CH4 emissions from other sources...

Forests are the reservoir for a vast amount of terrestrial soil organic carbon (SOC) globally. With increasing soil depth, the age of SOC reportedly increases, implying resistance to change. However, we know little about the processes that underpin deep SOC persistence and what deep SOC is vulnerable to climate change. This review summarizes the cu...

Background: Planted forests with low fertility soils are likely to require increased inputs of nitrogen (N) to satisfy increasing productivity demands. The use of N fertilisers will become more challenging due to their increasing cost and the risk of unwanted environmental impacts. Nitrogen-fixing plants may provide an alternative option to chemica...

Understanding the interaction of endophytic microbiomes and their tree hosts may provide insights into wood formation and quality. Given the role of wood in carbon and nutrient cycling, this will provide valuable insights for forest growth and carbon cycling globally. Furthermore, the management of these interactions may add new value to wood- and...

Abstract The assembly and function of the phyllosphere microbiome is important to the overall fitness of plants and, thereby, the ecosystems they inhabit. Presently, model systems for tree phyllosphere microbiome studies are lacking, yet forests resilient to pests, diseases, and climate change are important to support a myriad of ecosystem services...

Factors affecting the deposition of carbon and nitrogen into the rhizosphere soil have important implications for natural and managed ecosystems. These include the invasiveness of plants, extent to which ecosystems sequester soil carbon, through to regulation of N flow within and from agricultural ecosystems. This study determined if the close elem...

Aims: Aerobic methane oxidation coupled to denitrification (AME-D) is a promising process for removing nitrate from groundwater and yet its microbial mechanism and ecological implications are not fully understood. This study used RNA stable isotope probing (RNA-SIP) and high-throughput sequencing to identify the microorganisms that are actively in...

The biomass control potential of three metabolic uncouplers (carbonyl cyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP), carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), and m-chlorophenol (m-CP)) was tested in biotrickling filters (BTFs) degrading toluene. The experiments employed two types of reactors: a traditional column design and a novel diffe...

Members of the genus Methylacidiphilum, a clade of metabolically flexible thermoacidophilic methanotrophs from the phylum Verrucomicrobia, can utilize a variety of substrates including methane, methanol, and hydrogen for growth. However, despite sequentially oxidizing methane to carbon dioxide via methanol and formate intermediates, growth on forma...

New tools are required to provide estimates of pasture biomass as current methods are time consuming and labour intensive. This proof-of-concept study tested the suitability of photogrammetry to estimate pasture height in a grazed dairy pasture. Images were obtained using a digital camera from one site on two separate occasions (May and June 2017)....

The aim of this work was to understand how different sowing dates and inoculation treatments affected crop physiological responses during the seedling stage and for the first two growing seasons.

This study analysed the effects of sowing dates and inoculation treatments on yield components of rainfed lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) crops grown at Lincoln University, New Zealand. Crops were sown in a split-plot design on 26 January, 21 February, 15 March and 3 April 2012, combined with five inoculation treatments (ALOSCA®, coated seed, Nodulato...

This study analysed the effects of sowing dates and inoculation treatments on yield components of rainfed lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) crops grown at Lincoln University, New Zealand. Crops were sown in a split-plot design on 26 January, 21 February, 15 March and 3 April 2012, combined with five inoculation treatments (ALOSCA®, coated seed, Nodulato...

Acidic conditions with damaging levels of available aluminium (Al³⁺) currently limit lucerne (Medicago sativa) production on soils in the New Zealand high country and in large areas of Australia. Increased lucerne nodulation could be achieved by using an Al³⁺-tolerant strain of Sinorhizobium meliloti to inoculate an Al³⁺-tolerant lucerne line. The...

Background and aimsPseudomonas spp. have previously been isolated from lucerne nodules. The aims of this study were to: 1) investigate the microbiome within a lucerne nodule; and 2) assess the ability of two Pseudomonas spp. isolated from lucerne nodules to form nodules. Methods The microbial community within 27 lucerne nodules, collected from plan...

Reducing the amount of nitrogen (N) fertiliser applied to dairy pastures down to agronomically optimised levels would have positive economic and environmental results. The ability of commercially available optical sensors to estimate biomass yield and foliar-N uptake in pastures was investigated. Vegetative indices (Simple Ratio, SR; Water Index, W...

Aim: The aim of this work was to develop a tool to investigate the influence of soil factors on carbon utilization activity of single micro-organisms. Methods and Results: The assay for Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii in c-irradiated soil, using the MicroRespTM system, was optimized for sterility, incubation time, and moisture level. The optim...

Successful establishment of lucerne is dependent on the formation of effective nodules by the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti. Recently there has been some debate on whether addition of commercial inoculants is needed if the site has previously been sown in lucerne. The genotype of bacteria in the nodules of lucerne plants inoculated with the comm...

The efficacy of ALOSCA®, coated and peat seed inoculant treatments on the nodulation of lucerne sown in two soils in Canterbury, New Zealand was investigated. The commercial inoculant was Sinorhizobium meliloti strain RRI128. It was recovered from the nodules of lucerne plants grown from ALOSCA®, peat and coated seed at both sites. Coated seed had...

It is useful to gain an estimate of herbage biomass when feed budgeting. However, none of the tools that are available to estimate biomass (e.g., the rising plate meter (RPM) or capacitance probe (CP)) have been tested on popular forage herbs, such as chicory or plantain. We tested the hypothesis that RPM and CP could be used to estimate biomass of...

The establishment and growth of 'Stamina 5' lucerne (Medicago sativa) seed sown with three inoculant carriers (ALOSCA®, coated, and peat slurry treated) or as bare seed (control) on five dates (was investigated on a Lismore stony silt loam soil at Ashley Dene dryland research farm in Canterbury. Initial lucerne populations were 300 plants m -2 from...

The establishment and growth of 'Stamina 5' lucerne (Medicago sativa) seed sown with three inoculant carriers (ALOSCA®, coated, and peat slurry treated) or as bare seed (control) on five dates (21 October 2010, 9 November 2010, 8 December 2010, 13 January 2011 and 3 February 2011) was investigated on a Lismore stony silt loam soil at Ashley Dene dr...