Abstract
BackgroundStraw retention is a substitute for chemical fertilizers, which effectively maintain organic matter and improve microbial communities on agricultural land. The purpose of this study was to provide sufficient information on soil fungal community networks and their functions in response to straw retention. Hence, we used quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), Illumina MiSeq (ITS rRNA) and FUNGuild to examine ITS rRNA gene populations, soil fungal succession and their functions under control (CK) and sugarcane straw retention (SR) treatments at different soil layers (0–10, 10–20, 20–30, and 30–40 cm) in fallow fields.ResultThe result showed that SR significantly enhanced ITS rRNA gene copy number and Shannon index at 0–10 cm soil depth. Fungi abundance, OTUs number and ACE index decreased with the increasing soil depth. The ANOSIM analysis revealed that the fungal community of SR significantly differed from that of CK. Similarly, significant difference was also observed between topsoil (0–20 cm) and subsoil (20–40 cm). Compared with CK, SR decreased the relative abundance of the pathogen, while increased the proportion of saprotroph. Regarding soil depth, pathogen relative abundance in topsoil was lower than that in subsoil. Besides, both sugarcane straw retention and soil depths (topsoil and subsoil) significantly altered the co-occurrence patterns and fungal keystone taxa closely related to straw decomposition. Furthermore, both SR and topsoil had higher average clustering coefficients (aveCC), negative edges and varied modularity.ConclusionsOverall, straw retention improved α-diversity, network structure and fungal community, while reduced soil pathogenic microbes across the entire soil profile. Thus, retaining straw to improve fungal composition, community stability and their functions, in addition to reducing soil-borne pathogens, can be an essential agronomic practice in developing a sustainable agricultural system.
Highlights
Straw retention is a substitute for chemical fertilizers, which effectively maintain organic matter and improve microbial communities on agricultural land
Results qRT-Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) The quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) results of fungal internal transcriptional spacer (ITS) Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene copies showed that exponentially distributed fungal communities on both CK and straw retention (SR) along with the soil depth
0–10 cm, the number of ITS rRNA copies in SR was significantly higher than CK (p < 0.05)
Summary
Straw retention is a substitute for chemical fertilizers, which effectively maintain organic matter and improve microbial communities on agricultural land. Fertilization is a crucial agricultural approach that improves plant nutrient storage and simultaneously alters soil attributes and microbial communities [1,2,3]. Organic fertilization is an alternative approach to chemical fertilization to mitigate soil acidification and to improve soil nutrient status, ensuring sugarcane productivity [7,8,9]. Straw retention (SR) has an important role in soil aggregation, and nutrient availability, increasing soil microbial biomass and functional diversity [10, 11]. Research has shown that rice straw input positively impacts soil biogeochemistry and can improve soil fertility and fungal community diversity [23]
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