TRACKING THE ROLE OF EARTHWORM-MICROBE INTERACTIONS ON BENEFICIAL FUNCTIONS IN SUGARCANE RHIZOSPHERE

• Grant number: 15/11120-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2015
• End date: March 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Tsai Siu Mui
• Grantee: Lucas Palma Perez Braga
• Supervisor: Harold Drake
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Bayreuth, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/22845-2 - Interactions between sugarcane soil microbiota and earthworms on straw decomposition and emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), BP.DR

Abstract

Braga et al.33 (FAPESP 2013/22845-2) have recently demonstrated the impact of earthworms on the taxonomic profile of the microbial community in sugarcane rhizosphere. Bacterial growth was stimulated, and Alphaproteobacteria, Opitutae, Bacilli, Methanopyri, Thermomicrobia, and Betaproteobacteria responded to the occurrence of earthworms. Earthworms may be beneficial to plants. However, to our knowledge, no mechanism for this effect in the rhizosphere has been resolved. To address this matter, we propose a joint project between the Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) and the Department of Ecological Microbiology at the University of Bayreuth (Germany). Under the joint supervision of Prof. Dr. Siu M Tsai and Prof. Dr. Harold L Drake, we will address the hypothesis that earthworms provide beneficial functions in sugarcane rhizosphere. We propose that activities of earthworms select for different bacterial subgroups in the rhizosphere. A 13CO2-SIP (stable isotope probing) experiment (both with and without earthworms) will be used to test the hypothesis. Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses will resolve the taxonomic and functional differences of the microbial community relative to the presence and absence of earthworms. Bacterial abundance (16S rRNA qPCR) will be determined, and nifH, ipdC, nirK, pqqC, and hcnBC will be targeted in phylogenic analyses.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BRAGA, LUCAS P. P.; YOSHIURA, CAIO A.; BORGES, CLOVIS D.; HORN, MARCUS A.; BROWN, GEORGE G.; DRAKE, HAROLD L.; TSAI, SIU M.. Disentangling the influence of earthworms in sugarcane rhizosphere. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 6, DEC 15 2016. (13/22845-2, 15/08564-6, 11/51749-6, 15/11120-2)