A yw peptidau bach yn ffynhonnell maeth i briddoedd a phlanhigion yr Antarctig forwrol? (Are small peptides a nutrition source for plant and micro-organisms in the maritime Antarctic?)

Nitrogen (N) is the most important element that controls plant growth. During the past twenty years, our understanding of which N species are important for plant growth has developed significantly but it is still thought that large nitrogenous molecules need to be broken down into their constituent amino acids to be available for plant and microbial growth. This paper builds on our understanding of this process and suggests that small peptides are equally important for microbial nutrition and that soil microbes outcompete plants for low molecular weight N compounds in maritime Antarctic soil.