Soil Bacterial Community Associated With High Potato Production and Minimal Water Use

Abstract

In agriculture, water consumption for crop production represents 69% of all water use. Precision irrigation systems based on available soil water have been developed to improve crop production, reducing water use. Besides the improvements in irrigation management, a better resolution of the optimal water level is required, and revealing the impact of soil matric potential on the soil microbial community may help. Here, the effect of four soil matric potential treatments (−15 kPa, −25 kPa, −30 kPa, and −45 kPa) was evaluated on the soil microbial community across three potato cultivars and two soil types (silt and sand). The results confirmed the soil matric potential with −25 kPa as the optimal irrigation level, which promoted high potato production using the minimal water use. The irrigation levels affected the composition, predicted functionality, and the ecological network of soil bacterial community. Water excess (−15 kPa) and deficit (−30 and −45 kPa) promoted an increase in microbial interaction and alpha-diversity. The results suggested higher Positive/Negative ratio for phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria in optimal irrigation level (−25 kPa) than other irrigation levels. Also, correlation analyses revealed an interesting association between the irrigation levels, potato production, and bacterial functionality, especially in the carbon cycle (fixation and emission). Therefore, this study proposed important associations between the soil bacterial community and water management, focusing on high potato production and minimal water use. The advancement of this knowledge may lead to a more comprehensive assessment of the optimal irrigation levels of others crop production systems. Furthermore, the inclusion of biological mechanisms, especially microbial interactions, in agriculture studies has the potential to contribute to the development of water management practices conducive to both increasing crop yield and maintaining a sustainable soil environment.

Re-Analysis of 16S Amplicon Sequencing Data Reveals Soil Microbial Population Shifts in Rice Fields under Drought Condition

“…The Armatimonadetes ratios of drought to watered are 0.819 in the presence of plants and 0.219 in the absence of plant (Table S7). The reduction in the relative abundance of Armatimonadetes is consistent with previous results in potato (Gumiere et al 2019). Similarly, the Verrucomicrobia ratios of drought to watered are 0.896 in the presence of plants and 0.378 in the absence of plants (Table S7).…”

Association between irrigation thresholds and promotion of soil organic carbon decomposition in sandy soil

“…The results suggest that water management effect on SOC dynamics is shown on the short-term decomposition of labile carbon, as previously suggested 31,37 . Precision irrigation thresholds can also play a role in the direction of long-term carbon fixation as previously shown, a soil matric potential irrigation threshold of −25 kPa contained the most relative abundance of microorganisms predicted genes related to carbon fixation and emission; other precision irrigation thresholds ( −15 , −30 and −45 kPa) were significantly lower 38 . These results qualify the previous assessment that applying irrigation on sandy soil increases SOC 39 .…”

A microbial consortium‐based product promotes potato yield by recruiting rhizosphere bacteria involved in nitrogen and carbon metabolisms

“…The results of microbial composition and co-occurrence network analyses indicate that Proteobacteria may play an important role in potato growth. Gumiere et al (2019) also reported that the functional activity and interactions of soil bacteria have potential relevance to potato yields.…”

“…Gumiere et␣al . (2019) also reported that the functional activity and interactions of soil bacteria have potential relevance to potato yields.…”