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Intercropping With Aromatic Plants Increased the Soil Organic Matter Content and Changed the Microbial Community in a Pear Orchard
- Source :
- Frontiers in Microbiology, Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 12 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Frontiers Media SA, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Intercropping influences the soil microbiota via litter and root exudate inputs, but the mechanisms by which root exudates mediate the soil microbial community and soil organic matter (SOM) are still unclear. In this study, we selected three aromatic plants (Ocimum basilicum, Tr1; Satureja hortensis, Tr2; Ageratum houstonianum, Tr3) as intercrops that separately grew between rows of pear trees, and no plants were grown as the control in a pear orchard during the spring–summer season for 3 years. The soil from each plot was collected using a stainless-steel corer by five-point sampling between rows of pear trees. The bacterial and fungal communities of the different aromatic intercrops were analyzed by 16S and ITS rRNA gene amplicon sequencing; their functional profiles were predicted by PICRUSt and FUNGuild analyses. The root exudates of the aromatic plants were analyzed by a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) system. Compared with the control treatment, all intercropping treatments with aromatic plants significantly increased SOM and soil water content and decreased pH values. The contents of total nitrogen and alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen in Tr1 and Tr2 were higher than those in Tr3. In Tr3 soil, the relative content of saccharides increased little, whereas the changes in amine (increases) and alcohols (decreases) were rapid. Ageratum houstonianum intercropping decreased the microbial community diversity and significantly influenced the relative abundances of the dominant microbiota (Actinobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, Gemmatimonadetes, Cyanobacteria, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota) at the phylum, class, and order levels, which increased the assemblage of functional groups (nitrite ammonification, nitrate ammonification, and ureolysis groups). Our study suggested that the main root exudates from aromatic plants shaped the microbial diversity, structure, and functional groups related to the N cycle during SOM mineralization and that intercropping with aromatic plants (especially basil and summer savory) increased N release in the orchard soil.
- Subjects :
- Microbiology (medical)
lcsh:QR1-502
Biology
root exudates
Microbiology
lcsh:Microbiology
Actinobacteria
03 medical and health sciences
woody-herbaceous intercropping system
Gemmatimonadetes
Nitrogen cycle
Original Research
030304 developmental biology
0303 health sciences
PEAR
Soil organic matter
aromatic plants
Intercropping
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
biology.organism_classification
Ageratum houstonianum
Horticulture
Soil water
040103 agronomy & agriculture
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
soil nutrients
microbial community
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 1664302X
- Volume :
- 12
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Frontiers in Microbiology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....aa6b569224112d704902094ac7fa8bdd