scholarly journals Development of soil microbial communities for promoting sustainability in agriculture and a global carbon fix

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Johnson ◽  
Joe Ellington ◽  
Wesley Eaton
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Total System ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Respiration Rates ◽  
Agriculture Management

The goals of this research were to explore alternative agriculture management practices in both greenhouse and field trials that do not require the use of synthetic and/or inorganic nutrient amendments but instead would emulate mechanisms operating in natural ecosystems, between plant and Soil Microbial Communities (SMC), for plant nutrient acquisition and growth. Greenhouse plant-growth trials, implementing a progression of soil conditions with increasing soil carbon (C) (C= 0.14% to 5.3%) and associated SMC population with increasing Fungal to Bacterial ratios (F:B) ( from 0.04 to 3.68), promoted a) increased C partitioning into plant shoot and plant fruit partitions (m=4.41, r2=0.99), b) significant quantities of plant photosynthate, 49%-97% of Total System New C (CTSN), partitioned towards increasing soil C c) four times reduction in soil C respiration (CR) as F:B ratios increased, starting with 44% of initial treatment soil C content respired in bacterial-dominant soils (low F:B), to 11% of soil C content respired in higher fertility fungal-dominant soils (Power Regression, r2=0.90; p=0.003). Plant growth trials in fields managed for increased soil C content and enhanced SMC population and structure (increased F:B) demonstrated: a) dry aboveground biomass production rates (g m-2) of ~1,980 g in soils initiating SMC enhancement (soil C=0.87, F:B= 0.80) with observed potentials of 8,450 g in advanced soils (soil C=7.6%, F:B=4.3) b) a 25-times increase in active soil fungal biomass and a ~7.5 times increase in F:B over a 19 month application period to enhance SMC and c) reduced soil C respiration rates, from 1.25 g C m-2 day-1 in low fertility soils (soil C= 0.6%, F:B= 0.25) with only a doubling of respiration rates to 2.5 g C m-2 day-1 in a high-fertility soil with an enhanced SMC (F:B= 4.3) and >7 times more soil C content (soil C= 7.6%). Enhancing SMC population and F:B structure in a 4.5 year agricultural field study promoted annual average capture and storage of 10.27 metric tons soil C ha-1 year -1 while increasing soil macro-, meso- and micro-nutrient availability offering a robust, cost-effective carbon sequestration mechanism within a more productive and long-term sustainable agriculture management approach.

scholarly journals Development of soil microbial communities for promoting sustainability in agriculture and a global carbon fix

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Johnson ◽  
Joe Ellington ◽  
Wesley Eaton
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Total System ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Respiration Rates ◽  
Agriculture Management

The goals of this research were to explore alternative agriculture management practices in both greenhouse and field trials that do not require the use of synthetic and/or inorganic nutrient amendments but instead would emulate mechanisms operating in natural ecosystems, between plant and Soil Microbial Communities (SMC), for plant nutrient acquisition and growth. Greenhouse plant-growth trials, implementing a progression of soil conditions with increasing soil carbon (C) (C= 0.14% to 5.3%) and associated SMC population with increasing Fungal to Bacterial ratios (F:B) ( from 0.04 to 3.68), promoted a) increased C partitioning into plant shoot and plant fruit partitions (m=4.41, r2=0.99), b) significant quantities of plant photosynthate, 49%-97% of Total System New C (CTSN), partitioned towards increasing soil C c) four times reduction in soil C respiration (CR) as F:B ratios increased, starting with 44% of initial treatment soil C content respired in bacterial-dominant soils (low F:B), to 11% of soil C content respired in higher fertility fungal-dominant soils (Power Regression, r2=0.90; p=0.003). Plant growth trials in fields managed for increased soil C content and enhanced SMC population and structure (increased F:B) demonstrated: a) dry aboveground biomass production rates (g m-2) of ~1,980 g in soils initiating SMC enhancement (soil C=0.87, F:B= 0.80) with observed potentials of 8,450 g in advanced soils (soil C=7.6%, F:B=4.3) b) a 25-times increase in active soil fungal biomass and a ~7.5 times increase in F:B over a 19 month application period to enhance SMC and c) reduced soil C respiration rates, from 1.25 g C m-2 day-1 in low fertility soils (soil C= 0.6%, F:B= 0.25) with only a doubling of respiration rates to 2.5 g C m-2 day-1 in a high-fertility soil with an enhanced SMC (F:B= 4.3) and >7 times more soil C content (soil C= 7.6%). Enhancing SMC population and F:B structure in a 4.5 year agricultural field study promoted annual average capture and storage of 10.27 metric tons soil C ha-1 year -1 while increasing soil macro-, meso- and micro-nutrient availability offering a robust, cost-effective carbon sequestration mechanism within a more productive and long-term sustainable agriculture management approach.

scholarly journals Activation of the SA-Associated Plant Defense Pathway Alters the Composition of Soil Bacterial Communities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Peter G.L. Klinkhamer ◽  
Klaas Vrieling ◽  
T. Martijn Bezemer
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Signaling Pathway ◽  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Rhizosphere Soil ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Core Microbiome ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Soil Bacterial ◽  
Sa Signaling

Abstract Background and aimsMany plant species grow better in sterilized than in live soil. Foliar application of SA mitigates this negative effect of live soil on the growth of the plant Jacobaea vulgaris. To examine what causes the positive effect of SA application on plant growth in live soils, we analyzed the effects of SA application on the composition of active rhizosphere bacteria in the live soil. Methods We studied this over four consecutive plant cycles (generations), using mRNA sequencing of the microbial communities in the rhizosphere of J. vulgaris. ResultsOur study shows that the composition of the rhizosphere bacterial communities of J. vulgaris greatly differed among generations. Application of SA resulted in both increases and decreases in a number of active bacterial genera in the rhizosphere soil, but the genera that were affected by the treatment differed among generations. In the first generation, there were no genera that were significantly affected by the SA treatment, indicating that induction of the SA defense pathway in plants does not lead to immediate changes in the soil microbial community. 89 species out of the total 270 (32.4%) were present in all generations in all soils of SA-treated and control plants suggesting that these make up the “core” microbiome. On average in each generation, 72.9% of all genera were present in both soils. Application of SA to plants significantly up-regulated genera of Caballeronia, unclassified Cytophagaceae, Crinalium and Candidatus Thermofonsia Clade 2, and down-regulated genera of Thermomicrobiales, unclassified Rhodobacterales, Paracoccus and Flavihumibacter. While the functions of many of these bacteria are poorly understood, bacteria of the genus Caballeronia play an important role in fixing nitrogen and promoting plant growth, and hence this suggests that activation of the SA signaling pathway in J. vulgaris plants may select for bacterial genera that are beneficial to the plant. ConclusionsOverall, our study shows that aboveground activation of defenses in the plant affects soil microbial communities and, as soil microbes can greatly influence plant performance, this implies that induction of plant defenses can lead to complex above-belowground feedbacks. Further studies should examine how activation of the SA signaling pathway in the plant changes the functional genes of the rhizosphere soil bacterial community.

scholarly journals Management and Soil Conditions Influence Common Scab Severity on Potato Tubers Via Indirect Effects on Soil Microbial Communities

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 1049-1055
Author(s):  
Emily W. Lankau ◽  
Dianne Xue ◽  
Rachel Christensen ◽  
Amanda J. Gevens ◽  
Richard A. Lankau
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Common Scab ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Farm Management ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Potato Market ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Soil Bacterial

Common scab, caused by Streptomyces scabies and related species, is a potato tuber blemish disease that causes reductions in marketable yield worldwide. Evidence of suppression of common scab by indigenous soil microbial populations has been found in several studies. However, we lack a comprehensive understanding of how common scab severity relates functionally to potato varieties, farming systems, soil physical and chemical properties, and soil microbial communities. These factors may affect disease directly or indirectly by affecting one of the other variables. We performed a survey of 30 sampling locations across 12 fields in Wisconsin and used structural equation modeling to disentangle the direct effects of potato market classes, farm management (conventional versus organic), and soil physiochemical properties on common scab severity from their indirect effects mediated through soil bacterial and fungal communities. We found that, although potato market classes affected disease severity directly, the effects of farm management and soil physiochemistry were best explained as indirect, mediated by their impacts on soil bacterial communities. This suggests that evaluating the consequences of specific management practices for soil microbial communities may be useful for understanding disease pressure across fields.

Peanut/Cotton Intercropping Increases Productivity and Economic Returns by Regulating Nutrient Accumulation and Soil Microbial Communities Under both Normal and Saline Soil Conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Xie ◽  
Kai Zhang ◽  
Xiaoying Wang ◽  
Xiaoxia Zou ◽  
Xiaojun Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Bacterial Abundance ◽  
Saline Soil ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Nutrient Accumulation ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Functional Features

Abstract Background Intercropping has been widely adopted by farmers for it often enhances crop productivity and economic returns; however, the underpinning mechanisms from the perspective of belowground interspecific interactions are only partly understood especially when intercropping under saline soil conditions. By using permeable (100 µm) and impermeable (solid) root barriers in a multi-site field experiment, we aimed to study the impact of root-root interactions on nutrient accumulation, soil microbial communities, crop yield, and economic returns in a peanut/cotton intercropping system under non-saline, secondary-saline, and coastal saline soil conditions. Results The results indicate that intercropping (IC) decreased the peanut pods yield while increased the seed cotton yield, and consequently enhanced the economic returns compared with monoculture of peanut (MP) and cotton (MC). The higher accumulations of nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) were also observed in IC not only in the soil but also in vegetative tissues and reproductive organs. Bacterial community structure analysis under normal growth conditions reveals that IC dramatically altered the soil bacterial abundance composition in both peanut and cotton strips of the top soil whereas the bacterial diversity was barely affected compared with MP and MC. At blossom-needling stage, the metabolic functional features of the bacterial communities such as fatty acid biosynthesis, lipoic acid metabolism, peptidoglycan biosynthesis, and biosynthesis of ansamycins were significantly enriched in MP compared with other treatments. Conversely, these metabolic functional features were dramatically depleted in MP while significantly enriched in IC at podding stage. Permeable root barrier treatments (NC-P and NC-C) counteracted the benefits of IC and the side effects were more pronounced in impermeable treatments (SC-P and SC-C). Conclusion Peanut/cotton intercropping increases crop yield as well as economic returns under non-saline, secondary-saline, and coastal saline soil conditions probably by modulating the soil bacterial abundance composition and accelerating nutrients accumulation.

Relationships between Arabidopsis genotype-specific biomass accumulation and associated soil microbial communities

Botany ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akifumi Sugiyama ◽  
Matthew G. Bakker ◽  
Dayakar V. Badri ◽  
Daniel K. Manter ◽  
Jorge M. Vivanco
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Growth Performance ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
454 Sequencing ◽  
Biomass Accumulation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Natural Soil ◽  
Soil Microbial

Rhizosphere microbial communities are impacted by resident plant species and have reciprocal effects on their host plants. We collected resident soil from five wild populations of Arabidopsis in the United States and Europe in an effort to characterize the impacts of natural soil microbiomes on Arabidopsis growth performance. The microbial communities present in these soils showed differences in community structure as assessed by 454 sequencing and in metabolic activity. While pathogens associated with the Brassica family were rare, diverse genera of potential plant growth promoting rhizobacteria were detected. Seed corresponding to the five Arabidopsis genotypes was grown in resident and nonresident soils to determine relationships among plant growth performance and soil microbial community and edaphic characteristics. Arabidopsis genotypes demonstrated different patterns of relationship between biomass accumulation and microbial community characteristics. This work sheds light on the bacterial populations naturally associated with Arabidopsis and suggests implications of the rhizosphere microbiome for plant growth performance.

scholarly journals Soil Conditions Rather Than Long-Term Exposure to Elevated CO2 Affect Soil Microbial Communities Associated with N-Cycling

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristof Brenzinger ◽  
Katharina Kujala ◽  
Marcus A. Horn ◽  
Gerald Moser ◽  
Cécile Guillet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Elevated Co2 ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
N Cycling ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Soil Microbial

scholarly journals Standing Vegetation Exceeds Soil Microbial Communities in Soil Type Indication: A Procrustes Test of Four Salt-Affected Pastures

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1652
Author(s):  
Péter Csontos ◽  
Márton Mucsi ◽  
Péter Ragályi ◽  
Júlia Tamás ◽  
Tibor Kalapos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Procrustes Analysis ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Habitat Conditions ◽  
Soil Microbial

Organisms with different life histories are able to act as indicators of different characteristics of their environment. Here, we compared the precision of habitat indication by the vegetation and soil microbial communities in four salt-affected pastures: annual open salt sward, Pannonic Puccinellia limosa hollow, Artemisia saline puszta and grassy saline puszta. Dissimilarity of habitats was evaluated by standardized principal component analysis (PCA) based on four different datasets: catabolic profiles of microbial communities in June (a) and September (b), composition of vascular vegetation (c) and physical and chemical properties of the soil (d). Procrustes analysis was used to quantify the resemblance between pairs of PCA ordinations based on soil properties (d) and various biotic communities (a, b, c). PCA ordination based on vegetation most closely matched the soil data-based ordination, thus vegetation appears to better indicate habitat conditions than soil microbial communities do. For microbial communities, a better agreement with the soil data-based ordination was reached in September than in June. Most probably, the long-lived sedentary habit of perennial plants in these communities requires adaptation to long-term average habitat conditions. In contrast, short-lived soil microbes can quickly follow environmental changes, thus the composition of soil microbial communities better reflect actual soil conditions.

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