scholarly journals Impacts of Porous Silica-Nanoencapsulated Pesticide Applied to Soil on Plant Growth and Soil Microbial Community

Author(s):  
Vinicius Bueno ◽  
Peiying Wang ◽  
Orfeo Harrisson ◽  
Stephane Bayen ◽  
Subhasis Ghoshal

Porous silica nanocarriers have the potential to improve agricultural crop productivity. However, the impacts of nanoencapsulated pesticides on soil health and plant growth, and how they compare with conventional pesticide have not been systematically elucidated. In this study, we investigated how applying azoxystrobin encapsulated in porous hollow SiO2 nanocarriers to agricultural soil impacted the soil microbial community and plant development, using Solanum lycopersicum grown in the laboratory in soil microcosms. The data show that plant growth was heavily inhibited by the non-encapsulated pesticide treatment compared to that with encapsulated pesticide yielding 3.85-fold less plant biomass, while the soil microbial community experienced few to no changes regardless of the treatment. There was a 2.7-fold higher azoxystrobin uptake per unit dry plant biomass after 10 days of exposure for the non-encapsulated pesticide treatment when compared to that of nanoencapsulated pesticide, but only 1.5-fold increase in total uptake. After 20 days of exposure, however, the total uptake and uptake per unit of dry biomass were 3-fold and 10-fold higher, respectively, for the nanopesticide treatment. The differences in uptake can be attributed to phytotoxicity caused by the high the bioavailability of the non-encapsulated pesticide. The nanocarrier promoted slow release of the pesticide over days, which prevented phytotoxicity, and allowed healthy plant growth.

Author(s):  
Aditi Sengupta ◽  
Priyanka Kushwaha ◽  
Antonia Jim ◽  
Peter A. Troch ◽  
Raina Maier

The plant-microbe-soil nexus is critical in maintaining biogeochemical balance of the biosphere. However, soil loss and land degradation are occurring at alarmingly high rates, with soil loss exceeding soil formation rates. This necessitates evaluating marginal soils for their capacity to support and sustain plant growth. In a greenhouse study, we evaluated the capacity of marginal incipient basaltic parent material to support native plant growth, and the associated variation in soil microbial community dynamics. Three plant species, native to the Southwestern Arizona-Sonora region were tested with three soil treatments including basaltic parent material, parent material amended with 20% compost, and potting soil. The parent material with and without compost supported germination and growth of all the plant species, though germination was lower than the potting soil. A 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing approach showed Proteobacteria to be the most abundant phyla in both parent material and potting soil, followed by Actinobacteria. Microbial community composition had strong correlations with soil characteristics but not plant attributes within a given soil material. Predictive functional potential capacity of the communities revealed chemoheterotrophy as the most abundant metabolism within the parent material, while photoheterotrophy and anoxygenic photoautotrophy were prevalent in the potting soil. These results show that marginal incipient basaltic soil has the ability to support native plant species growth, and non-linear associations may exist between plant-marginal soil-microbial interactions.


Small ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariya V. Khodakovskaya ◽  
Bong-Soo Kim ◽  
Jong Nam Kim ◽  
Mohammad Alimohammadi ◽  
Enkeleda Dervishi ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4209
Author(s):  
Aditi Sengupta ◽  
Priyanka Kushwaha ◽  
Antonia Jim ◽  
Peter A. Troch ◽  
Raina Maier

The plant–microbe–soil nexus is critical in maintaining biogeochemical balance of the biosphere. However, soil loss and land degradation are occurring at alarmingly high rates, with soil loss exceeding soil formation rates. This necessitates evaluating marginal soils for their capacity to support and sustain plant growth. In a greenhouse study, we evaluated the capacity of marginal incipient basaltic parent material to support native plant growth and the associated variation in soil microbial community dynamics. Three plant species, native to the Southwestern Arizona-Sonora region, were tested with three soil treatments, including basaltic parent material, parent material amended with 20% compost, and potting soil. The parent material with and without compost supported 15%, 40%, and 70% germination of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. ‘Tarahumara Norteño’), Mesquite (Prosopis pubescens Benth), and Panic Grass (Panicum Sonorum Beal), respectively, though germination was lower than in the potting soil. Plant growth was also sustained over the 30 day period, with plants in parent material (with and without amendment) reaching 50% height compared to those in the potting soil. A 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing approach showed Proteobacteria to be the most abundant phyla in both parent material and potting soil, followed by Actinobacteria. The potting soil showed Gammaproteobacteria (19.6%) to be the second most abundant class, but its abundance was reduced in the soil + plants treatment (5.6%–9.6%). Within the basalt soil type, Alphaproteobacteria (42.7%) and Actinobacteria (16.3%) had a higher abundance in the evaluated bean plant species. Microbial community composition had strong correlations with soil characteristics, but not plant attributes within a given soil material. Predictive functional potential capacity of the communities revealed chemoheterotrophy as the most abundant metabolism within the parent material, while photoheterotrophy and anoxygenic photoautotrophy were prevalent in the potting soil. These results show that marginal incipient basaltic soil, both with and without compost amendments, can support native plant species growth, and non-linear associations may exist between plant–marginal soil–microbial interactions.


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