Project description:Intercropping is a vital technology in resource-limited agricultural systems with low inputs. Peanut/maize intercropping enhances iron (Fe) nutrition in calcareous soil. Proteomic studies of the differences in peanut leaves, maize leaves and maize roots between intercropping and monocropping systems indicated that peanut/maize intercropping not only improves Fe availability in the rhizosphere but also influences the levels of proteins related to carbon and nitrogen metabolism. Moreover, intercropping may enhance stress resistance in the peanut plant (Xiong et al. 2013b). Although the mechanism and molecular ecological significance of peanut/maize intercropping have been investigated, little is known about the genes and/or gene products in peanut and maize roots that mediate the benefits of intercropping. In the present study, we investigated the transcriptomes of maize roots grown in intercropping and monocropping systems by microarray analysis. The results enabled exploration differentially expressed genes in intercropped maize. Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L. cv. Luhua14) and maize (Zea mays L. cv. Nongda108) seeds were grown in calcareous sandy soil in a greenhouse. The soil was enhanced with basal fertilizers [composition (mg·kg−1 soil): N, 100 (Ca (NO3)2·4H2O); P, 150 (KH2PO4); K, 100 (KCl); Mg, 50 (MgSO4·7H2O); Cu, 5 (CuSO4·5H2O); and Zn, 5 (ZnSO4·7H2O)]. The experiment consisted of three cropping treatments: peanut monocropping, maize monocropping and intercropping of peanut and maize. After germination of peanut for 10 days, maize was sown. Maize samples were harvested after 63 days of growth of peanut plants based on the degree of Fe chlorosis in the leaves of monocropped peanut. The leaves of monocropped peanut plants exhibited symptoms of Fe-deficiency chlorosis at 63 days, while the leaves of peanut plants intercropped with maize maintained a green color.
Project description:Intercropping is a sustainable agricultural practice widely used around the world for enhancing resource use efficiency. However, short crops often grow in shade condition underneath the canopy of tall crops. Soybean is one of the most important oil crops and usually is planted in intercropping patterns. However, little is known about the acclimation responses of soybean leaves to shade in intercropping condition at the transcriptome level.
Project description:Microbial communities in the rhizosphere make significant contributions to crop health and nutrient cycling. However, their ability to perform important biogeochemical processes remains uncharacterized. Important functional genes, which characterize the rhizosphere microbial community, were identified to understand metabolic capabilities in the maize rhizosphere using GeoChip 3.0-based functional gene array method.
Project description:Anthropogenic nutrient inputs alter soil biodiversity; however, it remains largely unknown whether changes in soil microeukaryotes (fungi and protists) are primarily driven by direct effects, such as modifications in soil properties, or by indirect effects, such as plant diversity loss. To disentangle these mechanisms, we investigated the long-term effects (11 years) of fertilization and manipulated plant diversity (1, 2, or 4 plant species) on soil microeukaryote communities in a temperate grassland experiment using long-amplicon rRNA sequencing. Our results indicate that fertilization generally had a stronger influence on microeukaryote communities than plant species richness. Fertilization altered the community composition of fungi and protists, increased OTU richness by 20.8% and 52.7%, respectively, and shifted community dominance from fungi to protists. Regarding plant diversity, we observed an effect exclusively on the protist community. Changes were primarily explained by increased plant biomass (driven by both fertilization and plant diversity) and by higher soil phosphorus and lower soil pH levels (driven exclusively by fertilization). Regarding life strategies, we observed synergistic treatment effects: fertilization primarily enhanced fungal saprophytes (only richness), fungal animal pathogens, and protist consumers, whereas plant diversity affected phototrophic protists (reduction) and protist animal pathogens (enhancement). Notably, fertilization and plant diversity decline together led to a cumulative increase in fungal plant pathogens. In conclusion, we highlight that fertilisation alone has a significant effect on soil microeukaryotes, while the additional decline in plant diversity affects different soil groups that are not directly affected by fertilisation. This synergistic pattern indicates that fertilization can influence the entire microeukaryote community through direct and indirect mechanisms, with a cumulative enhancement on certain groups, such as plant pathogens.
Project description:<p>Soil-borne diseases, with their high incidence and frequency in monoculture systems, pose a major challenge in contemporary agricultural production. Intercropping can promote beneficial soil legacy effects, thereby effectively mitigating the occurrence and damage of soil-borne diseases. In this study, we employed an integrated approach combining 16S rRNA sequencing, ITS amplicon sequencing, and untargeted metabolomics to systematically compare the differences in soil microbial community structure and metabolite profiles between soybean-tobacco intercropping and tobacco monoculture systems. Furthermore, we elucidated the mechanisms through which these differences influence the incidence of tobacco root rot. The results showed that intercropping significantly enhanced the survival rate of tobacco plants under Fusarium.spp infection (P < 0.01). Furthermore, intercropping markedly increased soil microbial community diversity and significantly reduced the relative abundance of Fusarium (by 53.17%). Additionally, intercropping disrupted the cooperative relationships between Fusarium and other microbial taxa, leading to reduced connectivity within the interaction network and a notable decline in its ecological competitive advantage. Metabolomic analysis revealed that intercropping promoted the accumulation of antimicrobial metabolites such as indole, and indole content was significantly negatively correlated with Fusarium abundance (P < 0.05). Further integrated microbiome-metabolome analysis demonstrated that intercropping fostered a more complex microbial-metabolite interaction network, which helped suppress the recolonization of pathogenic Fusarium. In conclusion, this study provides a theoretical basis for leveraging intercropping systems to modulate the rhizosphere micro-environment and control soil-borne diseases, offering new insights for developing sustainable green control strategies.</p>