Purpose
The response of rice plants to P deficiency together with rhizosphere microorganisms is yet to be explored in flooded soil cultures. This study aimed to identify how alterations in bacterial diversity are associated with underground metabolic and chemical reactions in the rhizosphere of rice.
Methods
Two rice varieties were grown in a split-root box under flooded conditions and filled with either P-applied or non-P-applied soils with or without γ-irradiation. At 41–42 days after transplanting, plant biomass, P uptake, exudation rates of total carbon and low-molecular-weight organic acids (LMWOAs) from the roots, and bacterial diversity, P fractions, and phosphatase activity in the rhizosphere were determined.
Results
γ-irradiation significantly decreased plant P uptake and biomass of both varieties and reduced the relative abundance of Alphaproteobacteria and microbiome beta diversity in the rhizosphere. Concurrently, the use of insoluble P in soils was evidently reduced by irradiation. These microbiological and chemical changes in the γ-irradiated rhizosphere occurred in both P-applied and non-P-applied soils. On the other hand, the proportion of LMWOAs and exudation of citric acid, high in P-solubilization capacity were increased in the γ-irradiated and P-applied rhizosphere soils at the expense of other carbons. No differences were detected in phosphatase activity in any treatments.
Conclusion
Dysbiosis in the rhizosphere microbiome negatively affected rice growth and the use of insoluble P pools in flooded soil cultures. With a reduction in microbiome diversity, rice plants may have a complementary strategy to increase the exudation proportion of citric acid toward the P-rich soil area.