Responses of Microbial Communities and Interaction Networks to Different Management Practices in Tea Plantation Soils

Lin Tan, Songsong Gu, Shi Li, Zuohua Ren, Ye Deng, Zhonghua Liu, Zhihua Gong, Wenjun Xiao and Qiulong Hu
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Lin Tan: College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Songsong Gu: College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Shi Li: Horticulture and Landscape College, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Zuohua Ren: College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Ye Deng: Key Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100085, China
Zhonghua Liu: Horticulture and Landscape College, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Zhihua Gong: Horticulture and Landscape College, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Wenjun Xiao: Horticulture and Landscape College, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Qiulong Hu: College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 16, 1-14

Abstract: Soil microorganisms play important roles in the plant health and agricultural production. However, little is known about the complex responses of microbial communities and interaction networks to different agricultural management practices in tea plantation soils. In the present study, Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing technology and molecular ecological network (MEN) analysis were used to investigate the soil microbial diversity, community structure and composition, interaction networks of organic tea plantation (OTP), non-polluted tea plantation (NPTP) and conventional tea plantation (CTP). Alpha-diversity indices, Chao1 and richness, of OTP soil were significantly higher than those of NPTP and CTP soils. The beta-diversity analysis showed there were significant differences among bacterial community structures of OTP, NPTP and CTP soils. Composition analysis showed that Proteobacteria , Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi were the most dominant bacteria in all tea plantation soil samples under different management practices, and the beneficial community compositions of OTP soil were significantly different from NPTP and CTP soils at the phylum and genus levels. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and mantel test revealed that TOC and NO 3 -N contents as well as pH values were the key soil factors to affect the bacterial community structures of tea plantation soils. Furthermore, network analysis showed that the network of OTP soil possessed more functionally interrelated microbial modules than NPTP and CTP soils, indicating that OTP soil possessed the higher ecosystem multi-functionality. These results provided the theoretical basis and reference for improving soil microbial diversity and enhancing community multi-functionality in tea plantation soil ecosystems through effective agricultural management practices.

Keywords: long-term field experiments; high-throughput sequencing; management practice; microbial diversity; microbial community; network analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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