Dataset Information

Soil bacterial diversity correlates with precipitation and soil pH in long-term maize cropping systems.

ABSTRACT: Unraveling the key drivers of bacterial community assembly in agricultural soils is pivotal for soil nutrient management and crop productivity. Presently, the drivers of microbial community structure remain unexplored in maize cropping systems under complex and variable environmental scenarios across large spatial scales. In this study, we conducted high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing and network analysis to identify the major environmental factors driving bacterial community diversity and co-occurrence patterns in 21 maize field soils across China. The results show that mean annual precipitation and soil pH are the major environmental factors that shape soil bacterial communities in maize soils. The similarities of bacterial communities significantly decreased with increasing geographic distance between different sites. The differences in spatial turnover rates across bacterial phyla indicate the distinct dispersal capabilities of bacterial groups, and some abundant phyla exhibited high dispersal capabilities. Aeromicrobium, Friedmanniella, Saccharothrix, Lamia, Rhodococcus, Skermanella, and Pedobacter were identified as keystone taxa. Based on the node-level and network-level topological features, members of the core microbiome were more frequently found in the center of the ecosystem network compared with other taxa. This study highlights the major environmental factors driving bacterial community assembly in agro-ecosystems and the central ecological role of the core microbiome in maintaining the web of complex bacterial interactions.

SUBMITTER: Tan W

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7138807 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Soil bacterial diversity correlates with precipitation and soil pH in long-term maize cropping systems.

Tan Wenjun W Wang Junman J Bai Wenqing W Qi Jiejun J Chen Weimin W

Scientific reports 20200407 1

Unraveling the key drivers of bacterial community assembly in agricultural soils is pivotal for soil nutrient management and crop productivity. Presently, the drivers of microbial community structure remain unexplored in maize cropping systems under complex and variable environmental scenarios across large spatial scales. In this study, we conducted high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing and network analysis to identify the major environmental factors driving bacterial community diversity and ...[more]

PMID: 32265458

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Project description:BackgroundThe soil biota consists of a complex assembly of microbial communities and other organisms that vary significantly across farming systems, impacting soil health and plant productivity. Despite its importance, there has been limited exploration of how different cropping systems influence soil and plant root microbiomes. In this study, we investigated soil physicochemical properties, along with soil and maize-root microbiomes, in an agroecological cereal-legume companion cropping system known as push-pull technology (PPT). This system has been used in agriculture for over two decades for insect-pest management, soil health improvement, and weed control in sub-Saharan Africa. We compared the results with those obtained from maize-monoculture (Mono) cropping system.ResultsThe PPT cropping system changed the composition and diversity of soil and maize-root microbial communities, and led to notable improvements in soil physicochemical characteristics compared to that of the Mono cropping system. Distinct bacterial and fungal genera played a crucial role in influencing the variation in microbial diversity within these cropping systems. The relative abundance of fungal genera Trichoderma, Mortierella, and Bionectria and bacterial genera Streptomyces, RB41, and Nitrospira were more enriched in PPT. These microbial communities are associated with essential ecosystem services such as plant protection, decomposition, carbon utilization, bioinsecticides production, nitrogen fixation, nematode suppression, phytohormone production, and bioremediation. Conversely, pathogenic associated bacterial genus including Bryobacter were more enriched in Mono-root. Additionally, the Mono system exhibited a high relative abundance of fungal genera such as Gibberella, Neocosmospora, and Aspergillus, which are linked to plant diseases and food contamination. Significant differences were observed in the relative abundance of the inferred metabiome functional protein pathways including syringate degradation, L-methionine biosynthesis I, and inosine 5'-phosphate degradation.ConclusionPush-pull cropping system positively influences soil and maize-root microbiomes and enhances soil physicochemical properties. This highlights its potential for agricultural and environmental sustainability. These findings contribute to our understanding of the diverse ecosystem services offered by this cropping system where it is practiced regarding the system's resilience and functional redundancy. Future research should focus on whether PPT affects the soil and maize-root microbial communities through the release of plant metabolites from the intercrop root exudates or through the alteration of the soil's nutritional status, which affects microbial enzymatic activities.

Project description:Soil types heavily influence ecological dynamics. It remains controversial to what extent soil types shape microbial responses to land management changes, largely due to lack of in-depth comparison across various soil types. Here, we collected samples from three major zonal soil types spanning from cold temperate to subtropical climate zones. We examined bacterial and fungal community structures, as well as microbial functional genes. Different soil types had distinct microbial biomass levels and community compositions. Five years of maize cropping (growing corn or maize) changed the bacterial community composition of the Ultisol soil type and the fungal composition of the Mollisol soil type but had little effect on the microbial composition of the Inceptisol soil type. Meanwhile, 5 years of fertilization resulted in soil acidification. Microbial compositions of the Mollisol and Ultisol, but not the Inceptisol, were changed and correlated (P < 0.05) with soil pH. These results demonstrated the critical role of soil type in determining microbial responses to land management changes. We also found that soil nitrification potentials correlated with the total abundance of nitrifiers and that soil heterotrophic respiration correlated with the total abundance of carbon degradation genes, suggesting that changes in microbial community structure had altered ecosystem processes. IMPORTANCE Microbial communities are essential drivers of soil functional processes such as nitrification and heterotrophic respiration. Although there is initial evidence revealing the importance of soil type in shaping microbial communities, there has been no in-depth, comprehensive survey to robustly establish it as a major determinant of microbial community composition, functional gene structure, or ecosystem functioning. We examined bacterial and fungal community structures using Illumina sequencing, microbial functional genes using GeoChip, microbial biomass using phospholipid fatty acid analysis, as well as functional processes of soil nitrification potential and CO2 efflux. We demonstrated the critical role of soil type in determining microbial responses to land use changes at the continental level. Our findings underscore the inherent difficulty in generalizing ecosystem responses across landscapes and suggest that assessments of community feedback must take soil types into consideration. Author Video: An author video summary of this article is available.

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Project description:This study was conducted to investigate the effect of biofertilizers on the structure and diversity of the rhizosphere bacterial community of maize. Different biofertilizers were applied to maize. The physical and chemical properties of rhizosphere soil samples were analyzed and the rhizosphere bacteria were analyzed by 16S amplicon sequencing. The results showed that treatment with Bacillus licheniformis and B. amyloliquefaciens as biofertilizers increased the soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen, total phosphorus (TP), available phosphorus (AP), and available potassium (AK) contents, indicating that the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria in the biofertilizers might help the host plant to produce root exudates that, in return, recruit beneficial communities due to available sugars, amino acids, organic acids, vitamins, and polymers. The rhizosphere of maize treated with B. subtilis biofertilizer had the highest diversity and richness. However, the rhizosphere treated with the combined bacterial strains had the lowest diversity and richness, which might be due to the directional increase of the abundance of some bacteria with special functions, but the decrease of the overall bacterial community diversity in the soil. The dominant bacterial phyla were Proteobacteria (32.2%-34.6%), Acidobacteria (15.0%-21.0%), Actinobacteria (13.1%-17.2%), and Gemmatimonadetes (9.0%-10.8%), and the dominant bacterial species were Aciditerrimonas ferrireducens JCM 15389 (4.3%-5.2%), Gemmatimonas aurantiaca (3.2%-4.1%), and Pyrinomonas methylaliphatogenes (2.1%-4.8%). The significantly enriched bacterial functions were associated with amino acid metabolism, sugar metabolism, and energy metabolism pathways. The results of a redundancy analysis showed that SOM, TP, and AK were the main factors affecting the microbial community structure in the maize rhizosphere. In conclusion, the application of biofertilizers increased the diversity and richness of the bacterial community in the maize rhizosphere soil. However, combined strain treatment was failed and not an ideal strategy due to the lowest abundance and diversity.

Dataset Information

Soil bacterial diversity correlates with precipitation and soil pH in long-term maize cropping systems.

Publications

Soil bacterial diversity correlates with precipitation and soil pH in long-term maize cropping systems.

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