Wheat Straw Return Influences Nitrogen-Cycling and Pathogen Associated Soil Microbiota in a Wheat–Soybean Rotation System

• Published in: Frontiers in microbiology Vol. 10; p. 1811
• Main Authors: Yang, Hongjun, Ma, Jiaxin, Rong, Zhenyang, Zeng, Dandan, Wang, Yuanchao, Hu, Shuijin, Ye, Wenwu, Zheng, Xiaobo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 08.08.2019
• Subjects: 16S rRNA and ITS amplicon sequencing; Microbiology; nitrogen-cycling microbe; plant pathogen; soil bacterial and fungal community; wheat straw return; wheat–soybean rotation; 16S rRNA and ITS amplicon sequencing; soil bacterial and fungal community; nitrogen-cycling microbe; plant pathogen; wheat–soybean rotation; wheat straw return
• ISSN: 1664-302X; 1664-302X
• DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01811

Returning straw to soil is an effective way to sustain or improve soil quality and crop yields. However, a robust understanding of the impact of straw return on the composition of the soil microbial communities under field conditions has remained elusive. In this study, we characterized the effects of wheat straw return on soil bacterial and fungal communities in a wheat-soybean rotation system over a 3-year period, using Illumina-based 16S rRNA, and internal transcribed region (ITS) amplicon sequencing. Wheat straw return significantly affected the α-diversity of the soil bacterial, but not fungal, community. It enhanced the relative abundance of the bacterial phylum Proteobacteria and the fungal phylum Zygomycota, but reduced that of the bacterial phylum Acidobacteria, and the fungal phylum Ascomycota. Notably, it enriched the relative abundance of nitrogen-cycling bacterial genera such as and . Preliminary analysis of soil chemical properties indicated that straw return soils had significantly higher total nitrogen (TN) contents than no straw return soils. In addition, the relative abundance of fungal genera containing pathogens was significantly lower in straw return soils relative to control soils, such as , , and . These results suggested a selection effect from the 3-year continuous straw return treatment and the soil bacterial and fungal communities were moderately changed.