Background and aims

Harnessing soil microbiomes is a major demand for development of sustainable and productive agriculture. Here we aimed to assess the impact of two different types of organic material amendments in combination with chemical fertilizer on the plant-soil microbiota in maize farming and its link to soil fertility and crop productivity.

Methods

Soils and roots were collected from a long-term wheat-maize rotation system involving three experimental treatments: chemical fertilizer (CF); chemical fertilizer plus seasonal application of manure (OM); and chemical fertilizer plus one-time application of peat and vermiculite (PV). Crop residues were returned in all three treatments each season. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS sequencing were conducted to elucidate the treatment-specific response of the microbiota in bulk soil, rhizosphere soil, and root compartment.

Results

Relative to CF and OM treatments, PV amendment led to significant increases in soil organic carbon (SOC) content, aboveground plant biomass, and grain yield over the five-year field study. The PV-induced changes in microbial composition involved the greatest treatment-specific “effect size” on indicator ASVs (amplicon sequence variants) in bulk and rhizosphere soils. The number of interactions was more than doubled in the PV co-occurrence network relative to those in the CF and OM co-occurrence networks. Potential beneficial microbes, such as Glomeromycota (arbuscular mycorrhiza), Basidiomycota, and various members of the Actinobacteria and Burkholderiales, were most enriched in the root compartment of the PV treatment.

Conclusions

Peat-vermiculite enhanced microbiota-driven soil fertility and crop productivity, thereby providing new insights into plant-soil-microbiota interactions that can be harnessed for smart farming.

中文翻译：

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泥炭-石改变微生物群组成，增加土壤肥力和作物生产力

背景和目标

利用土壤微生物群系是发展可持续和生产性农业的主要需求。在这里，我们旨在评估两种不同类型的有机物质改良剂与化肥的结合对玉米种植中植物土壤微生物群的影响及其与土壤肥力和作物生产力的联系。

方法

土壤和根系从长期的小麦-玉米轮作系统中收集，该系统涉及三种试验处理方法：化肥；化肥加季节性肥料（OM）；化学肥料和一次性施用的泥炭和ver石（PV）。每个季节在所有三种处理中都将农作物残留物返还。进行了细菌16S rRNA基因和真菌ITS测序，以阐明散装土壤，根际土壤和根系中微生物群的治疗特异性反应。

结果

相对于CF和OM处理，在五年的田间研究中，PV改良剂导致土壤有机碳（SOC）含量，地上植物生物量和谷物产量显着增加。PV诱导的微生物组成变化涉及散装和根际土壤中指示剂ASV（扩增子序列变异体）的最大处理特异性“效应量”。相对于CF和OM共存网络，PV共存网络中的交互数量增加了一倍以上。潜在的有益微生物，例如球菌（丛枝菌根），担子菌以及放线菌和伯克霍尔德氏菌的各种成员，在PV处理的根室中含量最高。

结论

泥炭-石增强了微生物群落驱动的土壤肥力和作物生产力，从而提供了可用于智能农业的植物-土壤-微生物群落相互作用的新见解。