LBNL BioSciTrent Northen's lab in #BioEGSB at @berkeleylab are using fabricated ecosystems— or #EcoFABs— to test how different forms of nitrogen—ammonium, nitrate, or a combination—affect the production of organic substances given off by the roots of a small grass species used as a model for bioenergy grasses. They found that varying levels of nitrogen affected the type of compounds produced by the roots and that the plants grew best when they received both ammonium and nitrate.
EcoFAB: A Tool for Combating Climate Change and Training the Next Generation - Biosciences Area
Fabricated ecosystems are takeout box–sized growth chambers developed at Berkeley Lab to be a standardized and reproducible platform for conducting experiments on model plants and the microbes that live around their roots.
