Mortierella elongata's roles in organic agriculture and crop growth promotion in a mineral soil

Abstract

The addition of organic amendments contributes substantially to improvements in soil quality and prevents soil degradation. However, very little is known about the responses of dominant fungal strains to organic fertilizers or their functions in the nutrient transformations and crop growth promotion. Here, soils and maize roots were collected from a 35‐year field experiment treated with composted soybean cake. The fungal communities in the bulk soil, rhizosphere, and endosphere were analyzed by deep amplicon sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer region gene. Overall, the soil fungal community was dominated by the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Zygomycota. Organic amendments changed the fungal community composition, with significant increase in the relative abundances of Mortierella, Fusarium, and Chaetomiceae in the bulk and rhizosphere soils. Mortierella elongata was the most successful fungi responding to organic inputs as seen by the surge in abundance. Genome characteristics of M. elongata indicated that M. elongata possessed the functional capacity to degrade a range of toxic organics, and thereby improve soil health. Furthermore, M. elongata's capacity to compose recalcitrant substances that can contribute to pools of long‐term stable SOM was confirmed. These findings suggest that M. elongata may be mechanistic in sequestering C in soil. Inoculations of M. elongata into soil significantly increased the levels of plant indole acetic acid and plant biomass. Soil phosphatase and β‐glucosidase activities were also improved. Our study suggests that M. elongata can defend against soil degradation, improve soil health, and stimulate production of plant growth hormones.

Fungal community shifts in soils with varied cover crop treatments and edaphic properties

“…Since both plowing and manuring had been performed between the spring and summer sampling events, it is not possible to determine whether the effects on fungal communities observed were due to seasonal changes, tillage, or manure addition. Considering the potential importance of Mortierella in breaking down complex carbon sources, promoting plant growth, and improving soil health [44][45][46] , further exploration of factors influencing Mortierella growth in agricultural soils should be performed.…”

A commercial seaweed extract structured microbial communities associated with tomato and pepper roots and significantly increased crop yield

“…Interestingly, Li et al . () found that a closely related species ( M. elongata ) can improve soil health and stimulate production of plant growth hormones. In their study, Chung et al .…”

“…We found one cluster of ASV taxonomically assigned to Mortierella (soil saprotrophs) positively correlated to productivity in both tomato and pepper roots. Interestingly, Li et al (2018) found that a closely related species (M. elongata) can improve soil health and stimulate production of plant growth hormones. In their study, Chung et al (2007) showed how increases in productivity led to greater microbial biomass and greater number of saprophytic and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.…”

Continuous cropping of soybean alters the bulk and rhizospheric soil fungal communities in a Mollisol of Northeast PR China

“…We found Mortierella was the most abundant genus in this study (Table S3), and this genus was classified as undefined saprotrophic fungi using FUNGuild. The genus Mortierella comprises a diverse group of soil‐dwelling saprobes (Li et al, ), and members of this genus are known to assist crops and mycorrhizal fungi in phosphorus acquisition (Osorio & Habte, 2014; Tamayo‐Velez & Osorio, ) and have the ability to decompose plant litter and degrade aromatic hydrocarbons (Ellegaard‐Jensen, Aamand, Kragelund, Johnsen, & Rosendahl, ; Osono, ). In a previous study, the abundance of Mortierella was found to be significantly increased in the rhizospheric soils of soybean that had been CC for 2 and 3 years (Bai et al, ).…”