454-Pyrosequencing Reveals Variable Fungal Diversity Across Farming Systems.

Elham A Kazeeroni,Abdullah M Al-Sadi

doi:10.3389/fpls.2016.00314

Abstract

Oasis farming system is common in some parts of the world, especially in the Arabian Peninsula and several African countries. In Oman, the farming system in the majority of farms follows a semi-oasis farming (SOF) system, which is characterized by growing multiple crops mainly for home consumption, but also for local market. This study was conducted to investigate fungal diversity using pyrosequencing approach in soils from a farm utilizing a SOF system which is cultivated with date palms, acid limes and cucumbers. Fungal diversity from this farm was compared to that from an organic farm (OR) growing cucumbers and tomatoes. Fungal diversity was found to be variable among different crops in the same farm. The observed OTUs, Chao1 richness estimates and Shannon diversity values indicated that soils from date palms and acid limes have higher fungal diversity compared to soil from cucumbers (SOF). In addition, they also indicated that the level of fungal diversity is higher in the rhizosphere of cucumbers grown in OR compared to SOF. Ascomycota was the most dominant phylum in most of the samples from the OR and SOF farms. Other dominant phyla are Microsporidia, Chytridiomycota, and Basidiomycota. The differential level of fungal diversity within the SOF could be related to the variation in the cultural practices employed for each crop.

Highlights

Soil is a reservoir of thousands of fungal and bacterial species that play important roles in natural and managed agricultural soils (Abed et al, 2013; Al-Sadi et al, 2015b; Kaisermann et al, 2015; Tardy et al, 2015)
The level of inorganic carbon was found to be significantly higher in soils from semi-oasis farming (SOF) compared to organic farm (OR), while organic carbon was found to be significantly higher in the soil from date palms compared to all other soils (P < 0.05)
Our study showed the presence of differential levels of fungal diversity that were suggested to be associated with farming systems and plant species or cultural practices

Summary

Introduction

Soil is a reservoir of thousands of fungal and bacterial species that play important roles in natural and managed agricultural soils (Abed et al, 2013; Al-Sadi et al, 2015b; Kaisermann et al, 2015; Tardy et al, 2015). Fungi play important roles as decomposers, nutrient cyclers, soil aggregators, pathogens, and mycorrhizal symbionts (Guo et al, 2015; Thomson et al, 2015; Stott and Taylor, 2016). Changes in land use and agricultural practices have resulted in reduction in soil quality, fertility and productivity (Cherubin et al, 2015; Price et al, 2015). The high use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides can affect soil microbial populations and result in reduction of microbial diversity or changes in microbial communities (Esmaeili Taheri et al, 2015; Filimon et al, 2015; Pose-Juan et al, 2015; Rangel et al, 2015)

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Discussion

Conclusion