Phosphorus source driving the soil microbial interactions and improving sugarcane development

Abstract

The world demand for phosphate has gradually increased over the last decades, currently achieving alarming levels considering available rock reserves. The use of soil microorganisms, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), has been suggested as a promising alternative to improve phosphorus-use efficiency. However, the effect of the source of phosphorus on the interactions within the soil microbial community remains unclear. Here, we evaluated the links between the total dry matter content of sugarcane and the interactions within the soil microbial community under different phosphate sources, with/without AMF inoculation. The phosphate sources were Simple Superphosphate (SS, 18% of P2O5), Catalão rock phosphate (CA, 2.93% of P2O5) and Bayovar rock phosphate (BA, 14% of P2O5). The results indicated that the BA source led to the largest total dry matter content. The phosphate source affected total dry matter and the structure of the soil microbial communities. The bacterial interactions increased across sources with high percentage of P2O5, while the fungal interactions decreased. The interactions between bacterial and fungal microorganisms allowed to identify the percentage of P2O5 resulting in the highest total sugarcane dry matter. Our findings suggested the soil microbial interactions as a potential microbial indicator helping to improve the agricultural management.

Long‐term influence of phosphorus fertilization on organic carbon and nitrogen in soil aggregates under no‐till corn–wheat–soybean rotations

“…Higher SOC, soil microbial biomass, microbial biomass C, and C/P ratio were observed at 17 and 35 kg P ha −1 than zero P in maize–soybean rotation (Liu et al., 2008). Increased bacterial–bacterial interactions and total dry matter content were reported in Sugarcane under Bayovar rock phosphate (14% of P 2 O 5 ) than zero P (Gumiere et al., 2019). High P treatment (741.85 ppm) in alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.) showed distinct fungal communities with an increase in Saccharomycetes and decrease in Basidiomycetes and bacterial communities with an increase in Xanthomonadacea and Burkholderiaceae , and a decrease in Pseudomonadacea and Comamonadaceae families than zero P or low P (174.4 ppm) in a greenhouse study (Kaminsky, Thompson, Trexler, Bell, & Kao‐Kniffin, 2018).…”

Phosphobacteria as key actors to overcome phosphorus deficiency in plants

“…Despite the many works addressing the influence of the plant genotype on its associated microbiome (Bulgarelli et al, 2015; Gomes et al, 2018; Liu et al, 2019), Gomes et al (2018) observed that soil P level has more impact on selecting maize root microbiomes under nutrient‐limiting conditions than the plant genotype or the plant compartment. However, there is no universal plant microbiome response to P stress among different plant species, ranging from none or very subtle impact of P fertilisation on the rhizospheric community (Pantigoso et al, 2020; Sawyer et al, 2019; Widdig et al, 2019) to large shifts in bacterial taxa composition and abundance, as well as microbial interactions (Gomes et al, 2018; Gumiere et al, 2019; Leff et al, 2015; Pantigoso et al, 2018; Silva et al, 2017). This is not surprising, given that each plant species uses different mechanisms to cope with nutritional deficits and therefore it seems reasonable that different P‐transporting, P‐solubilising and/or P‐mineralising microbes are selected to fit the plant requirements.…”

“…In maize, it was shown that P fertilisation type induced changes in the composition of the rhizospheric microbiota; while Proteobacteria were found to be predominant in the microbial community in all treatments, different taxa related to this phylum responded differentially, suggesting some candidate groups ( Oxalobacteraceae , Burkholderiaceae , Bacillaceae ) of special relevance in rock phosphate solubilisation (Silva et al, 2017). Similarly, different phosphate sources modified the structure of sugarcane bacterial communities, as well as the networks of bacterial and fungal interactions where the rock phosphate source led to a lowest level of competition and strongest system stability (Gumiere et al, 2019).…”

“…In sugarcane, not only the phosphate source, but also arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation affected the structure of the soil microbial communities, explaining 41% of their variability. The authors suggested that hyphae of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi recruit bacteria to support their own P acquisition (Gumiere et al, 2019).…”

Bacillus strain selection with plant growth-promoting mechanisms as potential elicitors of systemic resistance to gray mold in pepper plants

“…In this study, Bacillus species isolated from the rhizosphere of a corn plant showed broad characteristics as promising PGPR. Furthermore, it is important to know the microbial interactions of the soil to improve fertilization, particularly when they are influenced by different phosphate sources ( Gumiere et al, 2019 ).…”