The use of molecular techniques to assess nematode biodiversity in Brazilian agricultural soils

• Grant number: 21/12483-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: August 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Dini Andreote
• Grantee: Felipe Martins do Rêgo Barros
• Supervisor: Roy Neilson
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: James Hutton Institute, Scotland
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/09460-0 - Interaction between the soil microbiome and plant-parasitic nematodes activity in soybean crop, BP.DR

Abstract

Nematodes are the most abundant group of animals on earth, which perform fundamental functions that support the delivery of soil ecosystem services including food production, flood regulation and carbon sequestration. Furthermore, the composition of nematode communities can be used as a proxy indicator of soil quality. The diversity of nematodes in Brazilian soils is still poorly characterized and there is a significant knowledge gap regarding the effect of agricultural practices on the nematode community in Brazilian soils. While the plant parasitic nematode communities of soils cultivated with soybean have been evaluated under Brazilian conditions, in contrast, the beneficial free-living nematode communities have been neglected. The need to evaluate large number of samples and the dependence on traditional techniques, based on nematode morphology observed under the microscope, are limiting factors for ecological studies on soil nematode communities. However, molecular approaches (such as next generation sequencing) can be used, overcoming the limitations of traditional techniques, and revealing important information about the biodiversity of Brazilian soils and the impact of agricultural practices on soil biota. Therefore, the dual objectives of this internship are to train in the theory and practical application of next generation sequencing for the characterisation of soil nematode communities and deploy this knowledge to Brazilian agricultural systems. Outcomes of this internship would build capacity in methods available to the Soil Microbiology laboratory of the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture for the evaluation of the soil nematode community and provide added value through generating new information on the soil biota from Brazilian soils. This proposal is a collaboration between the James Hutton Institute (JHI) and Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (LQCA), under the joint supervision of Prof. Dr. Fernando Dini Andreote (LQCA), Dr Roy Neilson (JHI) and Dr. Maddy Giles (JHI). (AU)