J.K. Lithgow and V.E. Danino and J. Jones and J.A. DownieH. Roussel and D. van Tuinen and P. Franken and S. Gianinazzi and V. Gianinazzi-PearsonP.R. Hirsch and S.D. Atkins and T.H. Mauchline and C.O. Morton and K.G. Davies and B.R. KerryM.A. Birkett and K. Chamberlain and A.M. Hooper and J.A. PickettD. RobinsonB. Forde and H. LorenzoH. Liao and G. Rubio and X. Yan and A. Cao and K.M. Brown and J.P. LynchJ. Hagstrom and W.M. James and K.R. SkeneK. Killham and C. YeomansJ. Sorensen and L.E. Jensen and O. NybroeF.W. SmithJ. ArahG.J.D. KirkA.G. O'Donnell and M. Seasman and A. Macrae and I. Waite and J.T. DaviesP. Bridge and B. SpoonerL. Brussaard and T.W. Kuyper and R.G.M. de GoedeN.C.M. Gomes and H. Heuer and J. Schonfeld and R. Costa and L. Mendonca-Hagler and K. SmallaV.J Goddard and M.J. Bailey and P. Darrah and A.K. Lilley and I.P. ThompsonI.R. Delany and U.F. Walsh and I. Ross and A.M. Fenton and D.M. Corkery and F. O'GaraS.P. McGrath and F.J. Zhao and E. LombiR. Resca and M. Basaglia and S. Poggiolini and P. Vian and S. Bardin and U.F. Walsh and C.M. Enriquez Barreiros and F. O'Gara and M.P. Nuti and S. Casella and U. Peruch

Foreword	p. 1
Section 1. Signalling and recognition in the root environment
1. Analysis of N-acyl homoserine-lactone quorum-sensing molecules made by different strains and biovars of Rhizobium leguminosarum containing different symbiotic plasmids	p. 3
2. Signalling between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plants: identification of a gene expressed during early interactions by differential RNA display analysis	p. 13
3. Methods for studying the nematophagous fungus Verticillium chlamydosporium in the root environment	p. 21
4. Does allelopathy offer real promise for practical weed management and for explaining rhizosphere interactions involving higher plants?	p. 31
Section 2. Root structure and function
5. Root proliferation, nitrate inflow and their carbon costs during nitrogen capture by competing plants in patchy soil	p. 41
6. The nutritional control of root development	p. 51
7. Effect of phosphorus availability on basal root shallowness in common bean	p. 69
8. A comparison of structure, development and function in cluster roots of Lupinus albus L. under phosphate and iron stress	p. 81
Section 3. Biologically-mediated processes in the root environment
9. Rhizosphere carbon flow measurement and implications: from isotopes to reporter genes	p. 91
10. Soil and rhizosphere as habitats for Pseudomonas inoculants: new knowledge on distribution, activity and physiological state derived from micro-scale and single-cell studies	p. 97
11. Sulphur and phosphorus transport systems in plants	p. 109
12. Incorporating rhizosphere processes into field-scale (agro)ecosystem models	p. 119
13. Plant-mediated processess to acquire nutrients: nitrogen uptake by rice plants	p. 129
Section 4. Biodiversity in the root environment
14. Plants and fertilisers as drivers of change in microbial community structure and function in soils	p. 135
15. Soil fungi: diversity and detection	p. 147
16. On the relationships between nematodes, mycorrhizal fungi and plants: functional composition of species and plant performance	p. 155
17. Bacterial diversity of the rhizosphere of maize (Zea mays) grown in tropical soil studied by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis	p. 167
18. Monitoring temporal and spatial variation in rhizosphere bacterial population diversity: A community approach for the improved selection of rhizosphere competent bacteria	p. 181
Section 5. Exploitation of rhizosphere interactions
19. Enhancing the biocontrol efficacy of Pseudomonas fluorescens F113 by altering the regulation and production of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol	p. 195
20. Plant and rhizosphere processes involved in phytoremediation of metal-contaminated soils	p. 207
21. An integrated approach for the evaluation of biological control of the complex Polymyxa betae/Beet Necrotic Yellow Vein Virus, by means of seed inoculants	p. 215