Effects of bio-organic fertilizer on soil fertility, microbial community composition, and potato growth

Abstract

The excessive and irrational use of chemical fertilizers poses a series of environmental problems. A growing number of research studies have focused on the application of beneficial microorganisms to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers. Here, potato field experiments were conducted to investigate whether partial replacement of chemical fertilizers with bio-organic fertilizers containing Bacillus velezensis BA-26 had an effect on plant growth, soil fertility, and soil microbial community composition. Three treatment methods were used in this study: organic fertilizer (OF), bio-organic fertilizer (BOF), and chemical fertilizer (CF). The results showed that the biomass and soluble sugar content of potato were significantly increased with BOF treatment. The soil electrical conductivity, available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK), urease, and alkaline phosphatase activity also improved with BOF treatment. Further analysis revealed that BOF treatment increases bacterial diversity and reduces fungal diversity. Potentially, pathogenic microbials; such as Fusarium, Verticillium, and Botryotrichum; treated with BOF were significantly decreased compared with CF treatment. Redundancy analysis showed that soil conductivity and AP had significant effects on bacterial and fungal community composition. Thus, the results suggest that the application of bio-organic fertilizer could reduce the use of chemical fertilizers by promoting potato growth, improving soil fertility, and affecting microbial community composition.

The Application of Mixed Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers Drives Soil Nutrient and Bacterial Community Changes in Teak Plantations

“…The bacterial co-occurrence network was performed to reveal the interrelationships between species and the complexity of community structure and function [ 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Previous studies confirmed that alterations of community structure and bacterial network were closely related to soil properties, such as pH [ 32 ], soil matter organic [ 33 , 34 ] and available phosphorus [ 35 ], which have been considered major drivers of variation in biotopes. Although symbiotic network patterns were universally applied in forest ecosystems, the response of complex bacterial communities to the application of mixed organic and inorganic fertilizers in teak plantations is still unknown.…”

Fertilization and Soil Microbial Community: A Review

“…Some complementary fertilization options other than the use of chemical fertilizers include the use of bio-surfactants [164], biomineralization [165] and biofertilizers [166][167][168], including microbial suspension and seaweed concentrate [25,169,170]. The use of plant growth-promoting microorganisms [171] is a very promising tool that could also have positive effects by inhibiting pathogens through the production of antibiotics or cell wall lytic enzymes, inducing plant defence mechanisms [172].…”

Enhancing plant nutrient availability in composted paddy husk using Bacillus spp. isolated from termite (Coptotermes curvignathus) gut

“…This could be due to the ability of microbes in solubilizing P and K. Bacillus cereus, for example, has been widely used in bio-organic fertilizer and plant booster to solubilize the unavailable form of P from soil (PO [3][4] ) to available P (HPO 2-4 and H 2 PO -4 ) and to solubilize exchangeable K which resulted in soil bearing K [39]. In recent study, bio-organic fertilizer Bacillus velezensis has been reported to improve physico-chemical properties of soil such as organic matter and available P, K, and N and support potato growth with good tuber quality [40].…”