Sai Guo1,2, Wu Xiong1,3, Xinnan Hang1, Zhilei Gao3, Zixuan Jiao1,2, Hongjun Liu1, Yani Mo1,2, Nan Zhang1, George A Kowalchuk3, Rong Li4,5,6, Qirong Shen1,2, Stefan Geisen7,8. 1. Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab of Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Solid Organic Wastes, Educational Ministry Engineering Center of Resource-saving fertilizers, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, PR China. 2. The Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, PR China. 3. Ecology and Biodiversity Group, Department of Biology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, Utrecht, 3584 CH, The Netherlands. 4. Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab of Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Solid Organic Wastes, Educational Ministry Engineering Center of Resource-saving fertilizers, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, PR China. lirong@njau.edu.cn. 5. The Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, PR China. lirong@njau.edu.cn. 6. Ecology and Biodiversity Group, Department of Biology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, Utrecht, 3584 CH, The Netherlands. lirong@njau.edu.cn. 7. Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, 6700 AA, The Netherlands. 8. Netherlands Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute for Ecology, (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, 6708 PB, The Netherlands.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Microbiomes play vital roles in plant health and performance, and the development of plant beneficial microbiomes can be steered by organic fertilizer inputs. Especially well-studied are fertilizer-induced changes on bacteria and fungi and how changes in these groups alter plant performance. However, impacts on protist communities, including their trophic interactions within the microbiome and consequences on plant performance remain largely unknown. Here, we tracked the entire microbiome, including bacteria, fungi, and protists, over six growing seasons of cucumber under different fertilization regimes (conventional, organic, and Trichoderma bio-organic fertilization) and linked microbial data to plant yield to identify plant growth-promoting microbes. RESULTS: Yields were higher in the (bio-)organic fertilization treatments. Soil abiotic conditions were altered by the fertilization regime, with the prominent effects coming from the (bio-)organic fertilization treatments. Those treatments also led to the pronounced shifts in protistan communities, especially microbivorous cercozoan protists. We found positive correlations of these protists with plant yield and the density of potentially plant-beneficial microorganisms. We further explored the mechanistic ramifications of these relationships via greenhouse experiments, showing that cercozoan protists can positively impact plant growth, potentially via interactions with plant-beneficial microorganisms including Trichoderma, the biological agent delivered by the bio-fertilizer. CONCLUSIONS: We show that protists may play central roles in stimulating plant performance through microbiome interactions. Future agricultural practices might aim to specifically enhance plant beneficial protists or apply those protists as novel, sustainable biofertilizers. Video abstract.
BACKGROUND: Microbiomes play vital roles in plant health and performance, and the development of plant beneficial microbiomes can be steered by organic fertilizer inputs. Especially well-studied are fertilizer-induced changes on bacteria and fungi and how changes in these groups alter plant performance. However, impacts on protist communities, including their trophic interactions within the microbiome and consequences on plant performance remain largely unknown. Here, we tracked the entire microbiome, including bacteria, fungi, and protists, over six growing seasons of cucumber under different fertilization regimes (conventional, organic, and Trichoderma bio-organic fertilization) and linked microbial data to plant yield to identify plant growth-promoting microbes. RESULTS: Yields were higher in the (bio-)organic fertilization treatments. Soil abiotic conditions were altered by the fertilization regime, with the prominent effects coming from the (bio-)organic fertilization treatments. Those treatments also led to the pronounced shifts in protistan communities, especially microbivorous cercozoan protists. We found positive correlations of these protists with plant yield and the density of potentially plant-beneficial microorganisms. We further explored the mechanistic ramifications of these relationships via greenhouse experiments, showing that cercozoan protists can positively impact plant growth, potentially via interactions with plant-beneficial microorganisms including Trichoderma, the biological agent delivered by the bio-fertilizer. CONCLUSIONS: We show that protists may play central roles in stimulating plant performance through microbiome interactions. Future agricultural practices might aim to specifically enhance plant beneficial protists or apply those protists as novel, sustainable biofertilizers. Video abstract.
Authors: J Gregory Caporaso; Christian L Lauber; William A Walters; Donna Berg-Lyons; Catherine A Lozupone; Peter J Turnbaugh; Noah Fierer; Rob Knight Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2010-06-03 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: David Bass; Jeffrey D Silberman; Matthew W Brown; Rebecca A Pearce; Alexander K Tice; Alexandre Jousset; Stefan Geisen; Hanna Hartikainen Journal: Environ Microbiol Date: 2016-04-07 Impact factor: 5.491
Authors: Wu Xiong; Alexandre Jousset; Sai Guo; Ida Karlsson; Qingyun Zhao; Huasong Wu; George A Kowalchuk; Qirong Shen; Rong Li; Stefan Geisen Journal: ISME J Date: 2017-10-13 Impact factor: 11.217