The drivers underlying biogeographical patterns of bacterial communities in soils under sugarcane cultivation

Author(s)

Durrer, Ademir ; Gumiere, Thiago ; Taketani, Rodrigo Gouvea ; da Costa, Diogo Paes ; Pereira e Silva, Michele de Cassia ; Andreote, Fernando Dini

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY; v. 110, p. 12-20, FEB 2017.
• Web of Science Citations: 12

Abstract

The exploration of microbiomes has been posited as one of the pillars for innovative technologies to improve plant health and production. Agriculture is a promising area for this exploration as soils harbor vast and diverse microbial communities. A better understanding of the drivers influencing microbial biogeographical patterns is necessary to properly exploit this resource. Here, we aimed to describe biogeographical patterns of bacterial communities across a broad spatial scale by sampling soils in 10 distinct farms (a total of 285 soil samples) located at the most important region for sugarcane production in Brazil. Bacterial communities were analyzed in terms of community structure and composition and further correlated with soil characteristics, agricultural practices and geographical distances. Distance decay patterns were found either at the bacterial community level (as determined by T-RFLP and sequencing analyses) and at the distribution of most bacterial phyla. Partial redundancy analysis revealed that soil characteristics (i.e., pH, granulometry, potassium and phosphorus contents) and agricultural practices (i.e., amendments of vinasse, charcoal and mechanical harvesting) explained the differential structuring of bacterial communities to a higher extend than did geographical distance. The co-occurrence/mutual-exclusion analysis suggested a role of biological connections in these assemblages, such as the co-occurrence of Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria, both negatively correlated with Actinobacteria. Our data constitute the broadest assessment of biogeographical patterns of bacterial communities across agricultural soils. Collectively, it indicates that these bacterial assemblages are suitable for management, what support the development of microbiome-based strategies in agricultural settings. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/04319-6 - Diversity of fungi of soils in cultivation of sugarcane in São Paulo
• Grantee: Thiago Gumiere
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 11/07343-5 - Bacterial and archaeal diversity in soils cultivated with sugarcane in the State of São Paulo: a biogeographic approach
• Grantee: Ademir Durrer Bigaton
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate