Belowground Interactions Impact the Soil Bacterial Community, Soil Fertility, and Crop Yield in Maize/Peanut Intercropping Systems

Abstract

Intercropping has been widely used to control disease and improve yield in agriculture. In this study, maize and peanut were used for non-separation intercropping (NS), semi-separation intercropping (SS) using a nylon net, and complete separation intercropping (CS) using a plastic sheet. In field experiments, two-year land equivalent ratios (LERs) showed yield advantages due to belowground interactions when using NS and SS patterns as compared to monoculture. In contrast, intercropping without belowground interactions (CS) showed a yield disadvantage. Meanwhile, in pot experiments, belowground interactions (found in NS and SS) improved levels of soil-available nutrients (nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)) and enzymes (urease and acid phosphomonoesterase) as compared to intercropping without belowground interactions (CS). Soil bacterial community assay showed that soil bacterial communities in the NS and SS crops clustered together and were considerably different from the CS crops. The diversity of bacterial communities was significantly improved in soils with NS and SS. The abundance of beneficial bacteria, which have the functions of P-solubilization, pathogen suppression, and N-cycling, was improved in maize and peanut soils due to belowground interactions through intercropping. Among these bacteria, numbers of Bacillus, Brevibacillus brevis, and Paenibacillus were mainly increased in the maize rhizosphere. Burkholderia, Pseudomonas, and Rhizobium were mainly increased in the peanut rhizosphere. In conclusion, using maize and peanut intercropping, belowground interactions increased the numbers of beneficial bacteria in the soil and improved the diversity of the bacterial community, which was conducive to improving soil nutrient (N and P) supply capacity and soil microecosystem stability.

Rhizobacterial species richness improves sorghum growth and soil nutrient synergism in a nutrient-poor greenhouse soil

“…Apart from N-fixation and nutrient (e.g. P, Fe) solubilization studies, limited information is available regarding the role of plant–microbe interactions in altering the soil macro- and micro-nutrients 18 , 76 – 78 . Interestingly, in some cases, the soil nutrient contents were relatively high in the rhizobacterial treatments (e.g., relatively species poor 3-species mixture treatments) (Fig.…”

Influence of Salt Stress on Growth of Spermosphere Bacterial Communities in Different Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Cultivars

“…qPCR was used to analyze the main bacterial phyla (Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes) and beneficial bacteria (Bacillus) following the methods described in the previous study [70]. qPCR analysis was performed by ChamQ SYBR Color qPCR Master Mix (Q411, Vazyme, Nanjing, China), and Bio-Rad CFX96 (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) with the following reaction mixture: 0.5 µL of primers (10 µM), 7.5 µL ChamQ SYBR Color qPCR Master Mix, and template DNA (20 ng of total soil DNA or plasmid DNA for standard curves).…”

Comprehensive Effect of Salt Stress and Peanut Cultivars on the Bacterial Community Structure and Diversity of Peanut Rhizosphere Soils

“…xing bacterium is closely related to peanut nodulation [31]. Devosia has been found to have functions of nitrogen xation, which can catalyze the conversion of N 2 gas to ammonia [32].…”

“…The main bacterial phyla (α-Proteobacteria, β-Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloro exi, Acidobacteria, and Cyanobacteria) and bene cial genus (Rhizobium) was measured by qPCR [31,45]. qPCR analysis was performed by Bio-Rad CFX96 (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) with the following reaction mixture: 0.5 µL of primers (10 µM), 7.5 µL ChamQ SYBR Color qPCR Master Mix (Q411, Vazyme, Nanjing, China), and template DNA.…”