Phenolic acids are secondary metabolites that are widely distributed in plant tissues and closely associated with plant growth. In recent decades, phenolic acids have been studied and knowledge of them has grown internationally, but the functions of phenolic acids in the fields of biology, ecology, and agriculture are still unclear. In natural and agro鄄 ecosystems, phenolic acids could be released into the external environment in a variety of ways. As research on the roles of phenolic acids as allelochemicals has increased, it has been found that the effectiveness of their allelopathic activities mainly depends on its existing state and specific concentration in vitro. At present, both the ecological and economic problems caused by phenolic acids are attracting more attention from scholars; problems such as the weakening of ecosystem regenerative capacity, restraint of plant growth, soil microflora imbalances, soil fertility decay, decrease in crop yield and increased rates of plant diseases and insect pests. Effective measures for resisting the potential environmental impacts resulting from phenolic acids in natural and agro鄄ecosystems are urgently needed. Microorganisms are regarded as important decomposers of pollutants in the natural environment so it is important to screen for suitable microorganisms that play an important role in the degradation of phenolic acids and in relieving the negative influences resulting from phenolic acids produced by plants. This can be done under pure culture or field conditions. In addition, it has been found that applying varieties of selected microorganisms can have a positive effect on crop growth environments. Therefore, it is necessary to further explore the degradation mechanisms of phenolic acids by microorganisms and understand the steps, and the regulatory role, of key enzymes and genes during this process. Meanwhile, scientists also need to clarify the mechanisms of degradation of different phenolic acids by specific microorganisms at the molecular level, and create environmentally friendly strains that have the function of efficient degradation of phenolic acids in ecosystems. It is also necessary to explore how the

Atractylodes lancea is a medicinal plant grown in Jiangsu Province, China. The diversity of the endophytic bacteria culturable from the leaves of A. lancea and their plant growth鄄promoting potential, including nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilization, potassium solubilization and indole acetic acid (IAA) production were investigated. According to morphological characteristics of bacterial colonies, 52 endophytic bacterial strains were obtained and 45 could be subcultured normally in vitro and subjected to amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA). Based on the ARDRA fingerprints, the 45 subculturable endophytic bacterial strains could be classified into 14 clusters. The 16S rDNA fragments of representative strains from different clusters were sequenced and deduced by a BLAST search to identify similar strains. The results showed that the isolated endophytic bacteria most likely belong to Pantoea sp. , Microbacterium sp. , Curtobacterium sp. , Agrobacterium sp. , Pseudomonas sp. , or Bacillus sp. Among them, the Pseudomonas sp. was the

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Effects of different chemotypes and seasonal dynamic variation on the species diversity of endophytic fungal communities harbored in Atractylodes lancea.

The effects of the addition of Ceratobasidum stevensii B6 and its growth on the soil microflora at a continuously cropped watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) site in China. Acta Ecologica Sinica,2012,32(4) :1185鄄1192.