Fenlong-Ridging Promotes Microbial Activity in Sugarcane: A Soil and Root Metabarcoding Survey

Mingzheng Duan,Lingqiang Wang,Suli Li,Benhui Wei,Shijian Han,Yanyan Long,Li Ma,Hongzeng Fan

doi:10.3390/agriculture12020244

Mingzheng Duan, Lingqiang Wang + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12020244

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Abstract

Fenlong-ridging (FL) is a recently proposed conservation tillage technology which has dramatic differences to traditional ones. Previous studies have demonstrated in many crops that FL has yield-increasing effects without additional inputs. However, little is known about the role that microbes play in mediating the growth-promoting effects of FL, which restricts its further application and improvement. Here, we characterized variation in the soil and root microbial diversity of sugarcane (GT44) under FL and traditional turn-over plough tillage (CK) by conducting 16S rRNA and ITS metabarcoding surveys. We also measured several phenotypic traits to determine sugarcane yields and analyzed the chemical properties of soil. We found that: (i) plant height (PH) and total biomass weight (TW) of sugarcane plants were 9.1% and 21.7% greater under FL than those under CK, indicating\increased biomass yield of the sugarcane in FL operation; (ii) contents of organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium were lower in soil under FL than those under CK, which indicates the utilization of soil nutrients was greater in FL soil; (iii) FL promoted the activity of endophytic microbes in the roots, and these diverse microbial taxa might have an effect on sugarcane yield and soil chemical properties; and (iv) Sphingomonas, Rhizobium, and Paraburkholderia and Talaromyces, Didymella, and Fusarium were the top three most abundant genera of bacteria and fungi, respectively, in soil and root samples. In addition, strains from Rhizobium and Talaromyces were isolated to verify the results of the metabarcoding survey. Overall, our study provides new insights into the role of microbes in mediating the growth-promoting effects of FL. These findings could be used to further improve applications of this novel conservation tillage technology.

Highlights

The sustainable production of food is being increasingly challenged by human population growth and climate changes [1]
We evaluated sugarcane yield using two agricultural traits: total biomass weight (TW) and plant height (PH)
TW and PH were increased under FL compared with CK

Summary

Introduction

The sustainable production of food is being increasingly challenged by human population growth and climate changes [1]. Soil and root microbial diversity and community composition are important for sustainable agriculture and conservation tillage because microbes mediate the processes supporting agricultural production [3,4,5] Many of these agriculturally important soil and root microbial taxa, and the impacts of different tillage practices on their abundances are largely unknown [6]. Whereas traditional tillage methods involve plowing the soil, FL is a deep tillage technology (up to 40 cm in depth) that works by horizontally crushing the soil in situ. It maintains soil nutrients and moisture and increases soil air permeability, thereby enhancing the growth of crop roots [8]

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