Changes in prokaryote communities of southern chernozem under the influence of different farming systems

Abstract

Soil microbiota or microbiocenosis is profoundly influenced by various physical, chemical, and biological environmental factors. Therefore, it serves as a good indicator of soil condition. With the introduction of new farming systems in agriculture, an intensive study and understanding of soil microbial community will make it possible to comprehensively analyze these systems including determining the degree of their impact on agroecosystems. The present study analyzed the structure of prokaryote communities in soil samples collected from the southern chernozem where different agricultural techniques are used, namely conventional, which involves plowing and a new method to the region, i.e., no-till farming. The outcomes were compared with the virgin land. The changes in soil metagenome were analyzed using high productive sequencing of 16S rRNA gene libraries. The authors found out that farming systems significantly influenced the changes in communities of prokaryotes of the southern chernozems, thereby creating conditions for the more active development of some groups of microorganisms while limiting others. A relative resistance to the effects of farming systems was noted for the genera Bacillus and Paenibacillus.