Abstract
Yield of the perennial grass Miscanthus × giganteus has shown an inconsistent and unpredictable response to nitrogen (N) fertilizer, yet fertilization underpins the crop's environmental and economic sustainability. The interactions among soil microbial communities, N availability, and Miscanthus × giganteus and management may explain changes in plant productivity. In this study, soil samples from different stand ages of Miscanthus × giganteus in a replicated chronosequence field trial were used to investigate the effects of stand age and N fertilizer rates on microbial community structure. We hypothesized that there is a definable Miscanthus × giganteus soil microbiome and that this community varies significantly with stand age and fertilization. Our results showed that the main phyla in soil microbial communities, regardless of plant age, are similar but microbial community structures are significantly different. The variation in observed microbial communities generally decreases with older stand ages. The amount of N fertilizer applied also affected the microbial community structure associated with different aged Miscanthus × giganteus. Specifically, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria (Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria) and Acidobacteria (subgroup Gp1) increased shortly after fertilization and was more associated with younger Miscanthus × giganteus. Furthermore, our results show a significant relationship between bacterial a diversity and fertilization rates and that this response is also affected by stand age. Overall, our results emphasize linkages between microbial community structure, plant age, and fertilization in Miscanthus × giganteus.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 51-59 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Phytobiomes Journal |
Volume | 5 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 12 2021 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding: This work was funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (U.S. DOE, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research under award number DESC0018420). The Long-term Assessment of Miscanthus Productivity and Sustainability experiment was funded by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch grant 1008969, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and the Iowa State University Department of Agronomy. F. I. Rocha was also supported by Coordenaca̧ õ de Aperfeico̧ amento de Pessoal de Niveĺ Superior, Brazil (CAPES; PDSE call number 41/2018). Partial support was also provided by USDA Hatch Project IOW04414.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s).
Keywords
- Agronomy
- Management
- Microbiome
- Miscanthus × giganteus
- Nitrogen response
- Soil bacterial community structure
- Soils
- Staggered start experiment