Agricultural Management Affects the Active Rhizosphere Bacterial Community Composition and Nitrification
Date
2021-09-28
Authors
Bay, Guillaume
Lee, Conard
Chen, Chiliang
Mahal, Navreet K.
Hofmockel, Kirsten S.
Halverson, Larry J.
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© 2021 Bay et al.
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Plant Pathology and Microbiology
The Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology and the Department of Entomology officially merged as of September 1, 2022. The new department is known as the Department of Plant Pathology, Entomology, and Microbiology (PPEM). The overall mission of the Department is to benefit society through research, teaching, and extension activities that improve pest management and prevent disease. Collectively, the Department consists of about 100 faculty, staff, and students who are engaged in research, teaching, and extension activities that are central to the mission of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The Department possesses state-of-the-art research and teaching facilities in the Advanced Research and Teaching Building and in Science II. In addition, research and extension activities are performed off-campus at the Field Extension Education Laboratory, the Horticulture Station, the Agriculture Engineering/Agronomy Farm, and several Research and Demonstration Farms located around the state. Furthermore, the Department houses the Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic, the Iowa Soybean Research Center, the Insect Zoo, and BugGuide. Several USDA-ARS scientists are also affiliated with the Department.
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Microbiology
Microbiology allows you to learn about the microorganisms that affect us every day and how they interact with their surroundings. Through the program, you will be equipped with the knowledge to work in areas related to agriculture, the environment and medicine.
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Plant Pathology and MicrobiologyEcology, Evolution and Organismal BiologyAgronomyMicrobiology
Abstract
Cropping system diversity provides yield benefits that may result from shifts in the composition of root-associated bacterial and fungal communities, which either enhance nutrient availability or limit nutrient loss. We investigated whether temporal diversity of annual cropping systems (four versus two crops in rotation) influences the composition and metabolic activities of root-associated microbial communities in maize at a developmental stage when the peak rate of nitrogen uptake occurs. We monitored total (DNA-based) and potentially active (RNA-based) bacterial communities and total (DNA-based) fungal communities in the soil, rhizosphere, and endosphere. Cropping system diversity strongly influenced the composition of the soil microbial communities, which influenced the recruitment of the resident microbial communities and, in particular, the potentially active rhizosphere and endosphere bacterial communities. The diversified cropping system rhizosphere recruited a more diverse bacterial community (species richness), even though there was little difference in soil species richness between the two cropping systems. In contrast, fungal species richness was greater in the conventional rhizosphere, which was enriched in fungal pathogens; the diversified rhizosphere, however, was enriched in Glomeromycetes. While cropping system influenced endosphere community composition, greater correspondence between DNA- and RNA-based profiles suggests a higher representation of active bacterial populations. Cropping system diversity influenced the composition of ammonia oxidizers, which coincided with diminished potential nitrification activity and gross nitrate production rates, particularly in the rhizosphere. The results of our study suggest that diversified cropping systems shift the composition of the rhizosphere’s active bacterial and total fungal communities, resulting in tighter coupling between plants and microbial processes that influence nitrogen acquisition and retention.
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This article is published as Bay G, Lee C, Chen C, Mahal NK, Castellano MJ, Hofmockel KS, Halverson LJ. 2021. Agricultural management affects the active rhizosphere bacterial community composition and nitrification. mSystems 6: e00651-21. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00651-21.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.