Influence of edaphic, climatic, and agronomic factors on the composition and abundance of nitrifying microorganisms in the rhizosphere of commercial olive crops.

ABSTRACT: The microbial ecology of the nitrogen cycle in agricultural soils is an issue of major interest. We hypothesized a major effect by farm management systems (mineral versus organic fertilizers) and a minor influence of soil texture and plant variety on the composition and abundance of microbial nitrifiers. We explored changes in composition (16S rRNA gene) of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), bacteria (AOB), and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), and in abundance of AOA and AOB (qPCR of amoA genes) in the rhizosphere of 96 olive orchards differing in climatic conditions, agricultural practices, soil properties, and olive variety. Majority of archaea were 1.1b thaumarchaeota (soil crenarchaeotic group, SCG) closely related to the AOA genus Nitrososphaera. Most AOB (97%) were identical to Nitros

SUBMITTER: Caliz J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4423868 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature