Soil tillage as a driver of the Oilseed rape microbiome
R. RATHORE (1), K. GERMAINE (1), D. BULGARELLI (2), D. FORRISTAL (3), J. SPINK (3), P. COTTER (4), D. DOWLING (1) (1) EnviroCore, Dept. of Science & Health, School of Science, Institute of Technology Carlow, Carlow, Ireland., Ireland; (2) University of Dundee at James Hutton Institute, Errol Road, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA, Scotland, UK., Scotland; (3) Department of Crop Science, Teagasc Crops Research Centre, Oak Park, Carlow, Ireland., Ireland; (4) Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Cork, Ireland., Ireland
Oilseed rape (OSR) is an important source of edible oil and biodiesel and its cultivation has been associated to a reduced impact of take-all fungal disease on subsequent cereal crops. However, OSR production cost is typically very high. Sustainable cultivation methods of OSR, such as limited soil tillage, e.g., ‘conservation tillage’, are being investigated to reduce the cost of conventional cultivation practices. Though, the impact of these strategies on OSR traits remain largely unknown. This study aimed to understand the effect of tillage (conventional vs conservation) practices on OSR microbiome. Illumina MiSeq protocol was adopted to generate high-resolution 16S rRNA gene profiles of endosphere (both shoots and roots), rhizosphere and bulk soil specimens. QIIME was used to quality-filter the reads and to identify Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) at 97% sequence similarity. Alpha-diversity calculations showed that plant-associated habitats appear to be gated communities where members of four bacterial phyla, namely Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, represented >90% of the microbiome. Beta-diversity calculations revealed that root samples displayed markedly distinct microbiome profiles. Interestingly, root microbiome composition was influenced, at least in part, by the tillage method. Under conservation tillage, this composition was characterized by the significant enrichment of OTUs assigned to the families Pseudomonadaceae, Rhizobiaceae, Cytophagaceae, Sphingomonadaceae, Chitinophagaceae and Comamonadaceae. Intriguingly, members of these taxa have been implicated in plant growth promotion and take-all decline. Taken together, our data suggest that the OSR microbiota represents an untapped resource of plant probiotic microbes whose full potential can be unlocked through cultivation practices.
Abstract Number:
P4-114
Session Type:
Poster
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