[en] The intensification of agriculture has led to environmental degradation, including the loss of biodiversity. This has prompted interest in perennial grain cropping systems to address and mitigate some of these negative impacts. In order to determine if perennial grain cultivation promotes a higher microbial diversity, we assessed the endophytic microbiota of a perennial grain crop (intermediate wheatgrass, Thinopyrum intermedium L.) in comparison to its annual counterpart, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The study covered three sampling sites in a pan-European gradient (Sweden, Belgium, and France), two plant genotypes, three plant compartments (roots, stems, and leaves), and two sampling time points. We observed that the host genotype effect was mainly evident in the belowground compartment, and only to a lesser extent in the aboveground tissues, with a similar pattern at all three sampling sites. Moreover, intermediate wheatgrass roots harbored a different bacterial community composition and higher diversity and richness compared to their annual counterparts. The root bacterial diversity was influenced by not only several soil chemical parameters, such as the carbon:nitrogen ratio, but also soil microbial parameters, such as soil respiration and dehydrogenase activity. Consistent findings across time and space suggest stable mechanisms in microbiota assembly associated with perennial grain cropping, underscoring their potential role in supporting biodiversity within sustainable agricultural systems.
Disciplines :
Agriculture & agronomy Microbiology
Author, co-author :
Michl, Kristina; Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Graz 8010, Austria
Kanasugi, Makoto; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological and Veterinary Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun 87-100, Poland ; Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg 15374, Germany
Förster, Alena; Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Regional and Environmental Sciences, University of Trier, Trier 54286, Germany
Wuggenig, Regina; Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Graz 8010, Austria
Issifu, Sulemana; Department of Agronomy in the Tropics and Subtropics, Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart 70593, Germany
Hrynkiewicz, Katarzyna; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological and Veterinary Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun 87-100, Poland ; Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg 15374, Germany
Emmerling, Christoph; Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Regional and Environmental Sciences, University of Trier, Trier 54286, Germany
David, Christophe; Agroecology and Environment Research Unit, ISARA, Lyon 69364, France
Dumont, Benjamin ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Plant Sciences
Mårtensson, Linda-Maria Dimitrova; Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lomma 23422, Sweden
Rasche, Frank; Department of Agronomy in the Tropics and Subtropics, Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart 70593, Germany ; International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, P.O. Box 30772-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Berg, Gabriele; Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Graz 8010, Austria ; Leibniz-Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy Potsdam, Potsdam 14469, Germany ; Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam 14476, Germany
Cernava, Tomislav; Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Graz 8010, Austria ; School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO171BJ, United Kingdom
FWF - Austrian Science Fund Swedish Research Council F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique DFG - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Funding text :
This research was conducted as a part of the collaborative project NAPERDIV, funded through the 2019\u20132020 BiodivERsA joint call, under the BiodivClim ERA-Net COFUND program. This research was funded in whole, or in part, by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [Grant-DOI: 10.55776/I5085]. Funding was also provided by the Swedish Research Council (grant no. 2017-00635) for the SITES L\u00F6nnstorp Research Station at SLU, the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) (grant no. R.8003.20), the National Science Centre (NCN, Poland) (2020/02/Y/NZ9/00007), and the German Research Foundation (grand no. RA 1717/8\u20131).
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