WITHDRAWN: Preliminary study on seasonal diversity of root endophytic fungi and bacteria associated with sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) in South Africa
Abstract:Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), is a beneficial forage legume, which is adapted to a wide range of climatic conditions. It has the potential to be an exceptionally useful forage crop due to its high digestibility and palatability, anthelmintic properties, endophytes, and abundance of nectar and pollen for honey production. We report here the first attempts to study the diversity of endophytic fungi and bacteria associated with sainfoin in South African agricultural lands during dry and wet season.. This was … Show more
“…This fungus is an antagonist against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum solubilizes phosphorous and produces IAA (Sahu et al, 2019 ). Fusarium was more abundant in the root-nodules of AID compared to SLD and GLD, a contrast to previous reports identifying it as a major fungal genus in the roots of forage legume Sainfoin ( Onobrychis viciifolia ) (Slabbert et al, 2023 ). While Fusarium has been isolated from various plant roots, including Medicago species and chickpeas ( Cicer arietinum L.) (Lamprecht et al, 1988 ; Moparthi et al, 2021 ), its presence as Desmodium species root-nodule occupants is novel.…”
BackgroundDesmodium species used as intercrops in push-pull cropping systems are known to repel insect-pests, suppress Striga species weeds, and shift soil microbiome. However, the mechanisms through which Desmodium species impact the soil microbiome, either through its root exudates, changes in soil nutrition, or shading microbes from its nodules into the rhizosphere, are less understood. Here, we investigated the diversity of root-nodule microbial communities of three Desmodium species- Desmodium uncinatum (SLD), Desmodium intortum (GLD), and Desmodium incanum (AID) which are currently used in smallholder maize push-pull technology (PPT).MethodsDesmodium species root-nodule samples were collected from selected smallholder farms in western Kenya, and genomic DNA was extracted from the root-nodules. The amplicons underwent paired-end Illumina sequencing to assess bacterial and fungal populations.ResultsWe found no significant differences in composition and relative abundance of bacterial and fungal species within the root-nodules of the three Desmodium species. While a more pronounced shift was observed for fungal community compositions compared to bacteria, no significant differences were observed in the general diversity (evenness and richness) of fungal and bacterial populations among the three Desmodium species. Similarly, beta diversity was not significantly different among the three Desmodium species. The root-nodule microbiome of the three Desmodium species was dominated by Bradyrhizobium and Fusarium species. Nevertheless, there were significant differences in the proportion of marker gene sequences responsible for energy and amino acid biosynthesis among the three Desmodium species, with higher sequence proportions observed in SLD.ConclusionThere is no significant difference in the microbial community of the three Desmodium species used in PPT. However, root-nodule microbiome of SLD had significantly higher marker gene sequences responsible for energy and amino acid biosynthesis. Therefore, it is likely that the root-nodules of the three Desmodium species host similar microbiomes and influence soil health, consequently impacting plant growth and agroecosystem functioning.
“…This fungus is an antagonist against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum solubilizes phosphorous and produces IAA (Sahu et al, 2019 ). Fusarium was more abundant in the root-nodules of AID compared to SLD and GLD, a contrast to previous reports identifying it as a major fungal genus in the roots of forage legume Sainfoin ( Onobrychis viciifolia ) (Slabbert et al, 2023 ). While Fusarium has been isolated from various plant roots, including Medicago species and chickpeas ( Cicer arietinum L.) (Lamprecht et al, 1988 ; Moparthi et al, 2021 ), its presence as Desmodium species root-nodule occupants is novel.…”
BackgroundDesmodium species used as intercrops in push-pull cropping systems are known to repel insect-pests, suppress Striga species weeds, and shift soil microbiome. However, the mechanisms through which Desmodium species impact the soil microbiome, either through its root exudates, changes in soil nutrition, or shading microbes from its nodules into the rhizosphere, are less understood. Here, we investigated the diversity of root-nodule microbial communities of three Desmodium species- Desmodium uncinatum (SLD), Desmodium intortum (GLD), and Desmodium incanum (AID) which are currently used in smallholder maize push-pull technology (PPT).MethodsDesmodium species root-nodule samples were collected from selected smallholder farms in western Kenya, and genomic DNA was extracted from the root-nodules. The amplicons underwent paired-end Illumina sequencing to assess bacterial and fungal populations.ResultsWe found no significant differences in composition and relative abundance of bacterial and fungal species within the root-nodules of the three Desmodium species. While a more pronounced shift was observed for fungal community compositions compared to bacteria, no significant differences were observed in the general diversity (evenness and richness) of fungal and bacterial populations among the three Desmodium species. Similarly, beta diversity was not significantly different among the three Desmodium species. The root-nodule microbiome of the three Desmodium species was dominated by Bradyrhizobium and Fusarium species. Nevertheless, there were significant differences in the proportion of marker gene sequences responsible for energy and amino acid biosynthesis among the three Desmodium species, with higher sequence proportions observed in SLD.ConclusionThere is no significant difference in the microbial community of the three Desmodium species used in PPT. However, root-nodule microbiome of SLD had significantly higher marker gene sequences responsible for energy and amino acid biosynthesis. Therefore, it is likely that the root-nodules of the three Desmodium species host similar microbiomes and influence soil health, consequently impacting plant growth and agroecosystem functioning.
“…This fungus is an antagonist against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum solubilizes phosphorous and produces IAA (Sahu et al, 2019). Fusarium was more abundant in the root-nodules of AID compared to SLD and GLD, a contrast to previous reports identifying it as a major fungal genus in the roots of forage legume Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) (Slabbert et al, 2023). While Fusarium has been isolated from various plant roots, including Medicago species and chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) (Lamprecht et al, 1988;Moparthi et al, 2021), its presence as Desmodium species root-nodule occupants is novel.…”
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