Microbial Activity and Diversity in Soil Sown with Zea mays and Triticosecale

Dominika Komorek, Jadwiga Wyszkowska (), Agata Borowik and Magdalena Zaborowska
Additional contact information
Dominika Komorek: Department of Soil Science and Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Jadwiga Wyszkowska: Department of Soil Science and Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Agata Borowik: Department of Soil Science and Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Magdalena Zaborowska: Department of Soil Science and Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-24

Abstract: The ongoing scientific debate on the selection of the best bioindicators to reflect the quality of arable soils indicates both their microbiome and biochemical parameters. Consideration has also been given to the fact that Zea mays has achieved the status of a crop used in the feed industry and for energy purposes, and Triticosecale is attracting increasing interest in this area. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the wide range of effects of Zea mays and Triticosecale cultivation on soil microbial and biochemical activity. The assessment of these parameters was based on the determination of microbial abundance, colony development index (CD), ecophysiological index of microbial diversity (EP), soil enzyme activities (dehydrogenases, catalase, urease, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, β -glucosidase, and arylsulfatase) as well as soil physicochemical properties. The innovative nature of the research was achieved by extending the pool of analyses to include both microbial biodiversity and analysis of soil samples at three depths: 0–20 cm; 21–40 cm; and 41–60 cm. It was found that the highest activities of soil enzymes and the abundance of organotrophic bacteria and fungi, as well as their colony development indices (CD), occurred within the rhizosphere and that their values decreased with increasing depth of the soil profile layers. Two phyla, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria , representing the microbiome of arable soils, were identified independently of soil management practices. Unique bacterial genera in the soil under Triticosecale cultivation were Pseudonocardia , whereas Rhodoplanes , Nocardioides , and Rhodanobacter were found under Zea mays cultivation. The activity of all enzymes, especially urease and arylsulfatase, was significantly higher in the soil under Triticosecale . This was influenced by the more favorable physicochemical properties of the soil.

Keywords: triticale; maize; quality of soil; diversity of the microbiome; biochemical parameters (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/7/1070/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/7/1070/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:7:p:1070-:d:1428043

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().