scholarly journals Soil microbial diversity impacts plant microbiota more than herbivory

Author(s):  
Antonino Malacrinò ◽  
Alison Karley ◽  
Leonardo Schena ◽  
Alison Bennett

Interactions between plants and microbiomes play a key role in ecosystem functioning and are of broad interest due to their influence on nutrient cycling and plant protection. However, we do not yet have a complete understanding of how plant microbiomes are assembled. Here, we tested and quantified the effect of different factors driving the diversity and composition of plant-associated microbial communities. We manipulated soil microbial diversity (high or low diversity), plant species (Solanum tuberosum or Solanum vernei), and herbivory (presence or absence of a phloem-feeding insect Macrosiphum euphorbiae), and found that soil microbial diversity influenced the herbivore-associated microbiome composition, but also plant species and herbivory influenced the soil microbiome composition. We quantified the relative strength of these effects and demonstrated that the initial soil microbiome diversity explained the most variation in plant- and herbivore-associated microbial communities. Our findings strongly suggest that soil microbial community diversity is a driver of the composition of multiple associated microbiomes (plant and insect), and this has implications for the importance of management of soil microbiomes in multiple systems.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonino Malacrinò ◽  
Alison J. Karley ◽  
Leonardo Schena ◽  
Alison E. Bennett

AbstractInteractions between plants and microbiomes play a key role in ecosystem functioning, and are of broad interest due to their influence on nutrient cycling and plant protection. However, we do not yet have a complete understanding of how plant microbiomes are assembled. Here, for the first time, we show interactions between plant-associated microbial communities that drive their diversity and community composition. We manipulated soil microbial diversity, plant species, and herbivory, and found that soil microbial diversity influenced the herbivore-associated microbiome composition, but also plant species and herbivory influenced the soil microbiome composition. We used a novel approach, quantifying the relative strength of these effects, and demonstrated that the initial soil microbiome diversity explained the most variation in plant- and herbivore-associated microbial communities. Our findings strongly suggest that soil microbial community diversity is a driver of the composition of multiple associated microbiomes (plant and insect), and this has implications for the importance of management of soil microbiomes in multiple systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Wang ◽  
Yujie Jin ◽  
Ping Han ◽  
Jianjun Hao ◽  
Hongyu Pan ◽  
...  

Soil treatment with disinfectants has been used for controlling soilborne phytopathogens. Besides suppressing specific pathogens, how these disinfectants impact soil health, especially soil microbial communities, is yet to be systemically determined. The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of three representative disinfectants, including the dazomet fumigant, fenaminosulf fungicide, and kasugamycin antibiotic on chemical properties, enzymatic activities, and microbial communities in soil for cucumber cultivation. Results showed that 14 days after soil treatment with these chemicals, residual content of dazomet and kasugamycin quickly declined in soil and were undetectable, while fenaminosulf residues were found at 0.48 ± 0.01 mg/kg. Total nitrogen and total carbon increased in soil after dazomet treatment. Urease and sucrase activities were significantly restrained after disinfectant application. The disinfectants did not significantly change the taxon of predominant bacteria and fungi but altered the relative abundance and diversity of soil microbiome, as well as microbial interspecific relationships. Moreover, cucumber cultivation enhanced the overall soil microbial diversity and enzymatic activities, which diminished the difference of soil microbiome among four treatments. The difference in soil microbial diversity among the four treatments became smaller after planting cucumber. Thus, soil microbial communities were affected by soil disinfectants and gradually recovered by cucumber application.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calvin Cornell ◽  
Vasilis Kokkoris ◽  
Andrew Richards ◽  
Christina Horst ◽  
Daniel Rosa ◽  
...  

There is a global industry built upon the production of “bioinoculants,” which include both bacteria and fungi. The recent increase in bioinoculant uptake by land users coincides with a drive for more sustainable land use practices. But are bioinoculants sustainable? These microbes are believed to improve plant performance, but knowledge of their effect on resident microbial communities is scant. Without a clear understanding of how they affect soil microbial communities (SMC), their utility is unclear. To assess how different inoculation practices may affect bioinoculant effects on SMC, we surveyed the existing literature. Our results show that bioinoculants significantly affect soil microbial diversity and that these effects are mediated by inoculant type, diversity, and disturbance regime. Further, these changes to soil microbes affect plant outcomes. Knowledge that these products may influence crop performance indirectly through changes to soil microbial diversity attests to the importance of considering the soil microbiome when assessing both bioinoculant efficacy and threats to soil ecosystems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1400
Author(s):  
Marta Bertola ◽  
Andrea Ferrarini ◽  
Giovanna Visioli

Soil is one of the key elements for supporting life on Earth. It delivers multiple ecosystem services, which are provided by soil processes and functions performed by soil biodiversity. In particular, soil microbiome is one of the fundamental components in the sustainment of plant biomass production and plant health. Both targeted and untargeted management of soil microbial communities appear to be promising in the sustainable improvement of food crop yield, its nutritional quality and safety. –Omics approaches, which allow the assessment of microbial phylogenetic diversity and functional information, have increasingly been used in recent years to study changes in soil microbial diversity caused by agronomic practices and environmental factors. The application of these high-throughput technologies to the study of soil microbial diversity, plant health and the quality of derived raw materials will help strengthen the link between soil well-being, food quality, food safety and human health.


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11184
Author(s):  
Mohan Acharya ◽  
Amanda J. Ashworth ◽  
Yichao Yang ◽  
Joan M. Burke ◽  
Jung Ae Lee ◽  
...  

Understanding the effects of organic pasture management on the soil microbiome is important for sustainable forage production since soil microbiome diversity contributes to improved nutrient cycling, soil structure, plant growth, and environmental resiliency; however, the soil microbiome response to pasture management is largely unknown. This study assessed the soil microbial diversity, richness, and community structure following 10 years of pasture management (organic or non-organic) of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Soil samples were collected from 0–15 cm in July and August from 2017–2018 and soil nutrient properties (nutrients, carbon, nitrogen, and pH) quantified and correlated with soil microbial diversity. Overall, greater soil bacterial species richness (P ≤ 0.05) occurred in organic relative to non-organic (conventional) systems. Management affected bacterial species richness (Chao1), with greater richness occurring in organic pasture soils and less richness occurring in non-organic systems (P ≤ 0.05). Similarly, management affected bacterial evenness (Simpson’s index), with a more diverse community occurring in organically managed soils relative to non-organic pastures (P ≤ 0.05). Linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis showed statistically significant and biologically consistent differences in bacterial taxa in organic compared with non-organic soils. Therefore, there was a shift in bacterial community structure in organic relative to non-organic soils (P ≤ 0.05). Additionally, soil nutrients (Fe, Mg, Ni, S, Al, K, Cd, and Cu), pH, C, and N were correlated with one or more dominant bacterial phyla (Gemmatimonadetes, Planctomycetes, Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria). Overall, pasture management affected soil microbial diversity, with greater diversity occurring in organic than non-organic systems, likely owing to applications of organic poultry litter in organic systems compared to non-organic management (use of inorganic-fertilizers and herbicides). Results indicate that when pastures are converted to organic production systems, soil microbial richness and diversity may increase, thereby resulting in enhanced soil microbiome diversity and overall ecosystem services.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (42) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juhi Gupta ◽  
Rashmi Rathour ◽  
Madan Kumar ◽  
Indu Shekhar Thakur

ABSTRACT We report the soil microbial diversity and functional aspects related to degradation of recalcitrant compounds, determined using a metagenomic approach, in a landfill lysimeter prepared with soil from Ghazipur landfill site, New Delhi, India. Metagenomic analysis revealed the presence and functional diversity of complex microbial communities responsible for waste degradation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuo Jiao ◽  
Weimin Chen ◽  
Gehong Wei

ABSTRACT A lack of knowledge of the microbial responses to environmental change at the species and functional levels hinders our ability to understand the intrinsic mechanisms underlying the maintenance of microbial ecosystems. Here, we present results from temporal microcosms that introduced inorganic and organic contaminants into agro-soils for 90 days, with three common legume plants. Temporal dynamics and assemblage of soil microbial communities and functions in response to contamination under the influence of growth of different plants were explored via sequencing of the 16S rRNA amplicon and by shotgun metagenomics. Soil microbial alpha diversity and structure at the taxonomic and functional levels exhibited resilience patterns. Functional profiles showed greater resilience than did taxonomic ones. Different legume plants imposed stronger selection on taxonomic profiles than on functional ones. Network and random forest analyses revealed that the functional potential of soil microbial communities was fostered by various taxonomic groups. Betaproteobacteria were important predictors of key functional traits such as amino acid metabolism, nucleic acid metabolism, and hydrocarbon degradation. Our study reveals the strong resilience of the soil microbiome to chemical contamination and sensitive responses of taxonomic rather than functional profiles to selection processes induced by different legume plants. This is pivotal to develop approaches and policies for the protection of soil microbial diversity and functions in agro-ecosystems with different response strategies from global environmental drivers, such as soil contamination and plant invasion. IMPORTANCE Exploring the microbial responses to environmental disturbances is a central issue in microbial ecology. Understanding the dynamic responses of soil microbial communities to chemical contamination and the microbe-soil-plant interactions is essential for forecasting the long-term changes in soil ecosystems. Nevertheless, few studies have applied multi-omics approaches to assess the microbial responses to soil contamination and the microbe-soil-plant interactions at the taxonomic and functional levels simultaneously. Our study reveals clear succession and resilience patterns of soil microbial diversity and structure in response to chemical contamination. Different legume plants exerted stronger selection processes on taxonomic than on functional profiles in contaminated soils, which could benefit plant growth and fitness as well as foster the potential abilities of hydrocarbon degradation and metal tolerance. These results provide new insight into the resilience and assemblage of soil microbiome in response to environmental disturbances in agro-ecosystems at the species and functional levels.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 4428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Tan ◽  
Songsong Gu ◽  
Shi Li ◽  
Zuohua Ren ◽  
Ye Deng ◽  
...  

Soil microorganisms play important roles in the plant health and agricultural production. However, little is known about the complex responses of microbial communities and interaction networks to different agricultural management practices in tea plantation soils. In the present study, Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing technology and molecular ecological network (MEN) analysis were used to investigate the soil microbial diversity, community structure and composition, interaction networks of organic tea plantation (OTP), non-polluted tea plantation (NPTP) and conventional tea plantation (CTP). Alpha-diversity indices, Chao1 and richness, of OTP soil were significantly higher than those of NPTP and CTP soils. The beta-diversity analysis showed there were significant differences among bacterial community structures of OTP, NPTP and CTP soils. Composition analysis showed that Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi were the most dominant bacteria in all tea plantation soil samples under different management practices, and the beneficial community compositions of OTP soil were significantly different from NPTP and CTP soils at the phylum and genus levels. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and mantel test revealed that TOC and NO3-N contents as well as pH values were the key soil factors to affect the bacterial community structures of tea plantation soils. Furthermore, network analysis showed that the network of OTP soil possessed more functionally interrelated microbial modules than NPTP and CTP soils, indicating that OTP soil possessed the higher ecosystem multi-functionality. These results provided the theoretical basis and reference for improving soil microbial diversity and enhancing community multi-functionality in tea plantation soil ecosystems through effective agricultural management practices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Learn-Han Lee ◽  
Vengadesh Letchumanan ◽  
Nurul-Syakima Ab Mutalib ◽  
Yoke Kqueen Cheah

The diversity of soil microbial communities at Barrientos Island with  differents soil characteristics were evaluated using PCR-based method random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and community level physiological profiles (CLPP) of Biolog Ecoplate. The soils were selected from 17 different locations around Barrientos Island inhabited by different breeders. Shannon-Weaver index and multivariate analysis were performed to characterize variations of soil microbial communities. Both RAPD and CLPP methods exhibited that most soils with different type of rookery and characteristics could possibly affect the DNA sequence diversity and soil microbial diversity. The abandoned type of rookery had the highest Shannon-Weaver index as exhibited by soil sample 445 (3.4 for RAPD) and 450 (3.09 for CLPP). Higher coefficients of DNA sequence similarity were found in soil samples colonized by similar breeders, like soil 442 and 446 (both were active Chinstrap rookery) shared highest similarity in DNA sequences (73.53). The cluster analysis of RAPD profiles by UPGMA and principle component analysis (PCA) of Biolog Ecoplate exhibited similar influence of type of rookery and soil condition towards soil microbial community diversity. The results may suggest that the change in microbial community DNA composition is accompanied with the change in microbial functional properties.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liping Qiu ◽  
Qian Zhang ◽  
Hansong Zhu ◽  
Peter B. Reich ◽  
Samiran Banerjee ◽  
...  

AbstractWhile soil erosion drives land degradation, the impact of erosion on soil microbial communities and multiple soil functions remains unclear. This hinders our ability to assess the true impact of erosion on soil ecosystem services and our ability to restore eroded environments. Here we examined the effect of erosion on microbial communities at two sites with contrasting soil texture and climates. Eroded plots had lower microbial network complexity, fewer microbial taxa, and fewer associations among microbial taxa, relative to non-eroded plots. Soil erosion also shifted microbial community composition, with decreased relative abundances of dominant phyla such as Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Gemmatimonadetes. In contrast, erosion led to an increase in the relative abundances of some bacterial families involved in N cycling, such as Acetobacteraceae and Beijerinckiaceae. Changes in microbiota characteristics were strongly related with erosion-induced changes in soil multifunctionality. Together, these results demonstrate that soil erosion has a significant negative impact on soil microbial diversity and functionality.


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