Abstract
The development and productivity of plants are governed by their genetic background, nutrient input, and the microbial communities they host, i.e. the holobiont. Accordingly, engineering beneficial root microbiomes has emerged as a novel and sustainable approach to crop production with reduced nutrient input. Here, we tested the effects of six bacterial strains isolated from sugarcane stalks on sugarcane growth and physiology as well as the dynamics of prokaryote community assembly in the rhizosphere and root endosphere under two N fertilization regimes. All six strains, Paraburkholderia caribensis IAC/BECa 88, Kosakonia oryzae IAC/BECa 90, Kosakonia radicincitans IAC/BECa 95, Paraburkholderia tropica IAC/BECa 135, Pseudomonas fluorescens IAC/BECa 141 and Herbaspirillum frisingense IAC/BECa 152, increased in shoot and root dry mass, and influenced the concentration and accumulation of important macro- and micronutrients. However, N input reduced the impact of inoculation by shifting the sugarcane microbiome (rhizosphere and root endosphere) and weakening the co-dependence between soil microbes and sugarcane biomass and nutrients. The results show that these beneficial microbes improved plant nutrient uptake conditioned to a reduced N nutrient input. Therefore, reduced fertilization is not only desirable consequence of bacterial inoculation but essential for higher impact of these beneficial bacteria on the sugarcane microbiome.
Highlights
Sugarcane is one of the most important crops in the world as a source of food, renewable energy and biomaterials.M.F.A
Communities specific to each compartment were identified by comparing the sugarcane rhizosphere and root endosphere (Supplementary Fig. S2)
A smaller proportion of the prokaryotic genera occurred with high abundance in the root endosphere (220) compared with the rhizosphere (264)
Summary
Sugarcane is one of the most important crops in the world as a source of food (sugar), renewable energy (ethanol) and biomaterials.M.F.A. While plant growth-promoting microbes and host-associated environments, such as the plant rhizosphere, root endosphere, and phyllosphere, have received extensive attention in recent years (Armada et al, 2018; Beans, 2017; Busby et al, 2017; da Silveira et al, 2018; Schlemper et al, 2018), a comprehensive mechanistic understanding of beneficial plant-microbe interactions and how they can be manipulated to improve crop productivity remains lacking Such an understanding would enable the development and use of microbial inoculants that could eventually lead to a more productive and sustainable agricultural system
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