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Leaf surface fertilization with liquid fertilizer produced from amino acids constitutes a potentially important source of nitrogen and is important for plant production. However, few reports have focused on the plant growth promotion by novel liquid fertilizers created by new amino acid resources, let alone the influence on leaf microbiota. In this study, the effects of liquid fertilizer, created by amino acids hydrolyzed from animal hairs with or without the PGPR strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9, on crop yield and leaf microbiota were investigated. The results showed that leaves sprayed with amino acid liquid fertilizer (AA) and liquid biological fertilizer (AA9) persistently increased cowpea yields compared to the control amended with chemical fertilizer (CF). Fertilization with amino acid fertilizer showed no significant difference in microbial composition compared with the CF treatment; however, the introduction of functional microbes altered the microbial composition. Pearson correlation analysis, VPA analysis and SEM models all revealed that the amino acids liquid fertilizer application, but not the functional strain or the altered microbiota, performed as the direct driver attributing to yield enhancement. We conclude that leaf fertilization with a novel amino acid liquid fertilizer can greatly enhance the crop yield and that the addition of beneficial microbes may perform the role in further altering the composition of leaf microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have focused on linking soil community structure, diversity, or specific taxa to disturbances. Relatively little attention has been directed to crop monoculture soils, particularly potato monoculture. Information about microbial community changes over time between monoculture and non-monoculture treatments is lacking. Furthermore, few studies have examined microbial communities in potato monoculture soils using a high throughput pyrosequencing approach. Methodology/Principal Findings: Soils along a seven-year gradient of potato monoculture were collected and microbial communities were characterized using high throughput pyrosequencing approach. Principal findings are as follows. First, diversity (HShannon) and richness (SChao1) indices of bacterial community, but not of fungal community, were linearly decreased over time and corresponded to a decline of soil sustainability represented by yield decline and disease incidence increase. Second, Fusarium, the only soilborne pathogen-associated fungal genus substantially detected, was linearly increased over time in abundance and was closely associated with yield decline. Third, Fusarium abundance was negatively correlated with soil organic matter (OM) and total nitrogen (TN) but positively with electrical conductivity (EC). Fourth, Fusarium was correlated in abundances with 6 bacterial taxa over time. Conclusions: Soil bacterial and fungal communities exhibited differential responses to the potato monoculture. The overall soil bacterial communities were shaped by potato monoculture. Fusarium was the only soilborne pathogen-associated genus associated with disease incidence increase and yield decline. The changes of soil OM, TN and EC were responsible for Fusarium enrichment, in addition to selections by the monoculture crop. Acidobacteria and Nitrospirae were linearly decreased over time in abundance, corresponding to the decrease of OM, suggesting their similar ecophysiologial trait. Correlations between abundance of Fusarium with several other bacterial taxa suggested their similar behaviors in responses to potato monoculture and/or soil variables, providing insights into the ecological behaviors of these taxa in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil physicochemical properties, soil microbial biomass and bacterial community structures in a rice-wheat cropping system subjected to different fertilizer regimes were investigated in two seasons (June and October). All fertilizer regimes increased the soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen. Both fertilizer regime and time had a significant effect on soil physicochemical properties and bacterial community structure. The combined application of inorganic fertilizer and manure organic-inorganic fertilizer significantly enhanced the bacterial diversity in both seasons. The bacterial communities across all samples were dominated by Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi at the phylum level. Permutational multivariate analysis confirmed that both fertilizer treatment and season were significant factors in the variation of the composition of the bacterial community. Hierarchical cluster analysis based on Bray-Curtis distances further revealed that bacterial communities were separated primarily by season. The effect of fertilizer treatment is significant (P = 0.005) and accounts for 7.43% of the total variation in bacterial community. Soil nutrients (e.g., available K, total N, total P and organic matter) rather than pH showed significant correlation with the majority of abundant taxa. In conclusion, both fertilizer treatment and seasonal changes affect soil properties, microbial biomass and bacterial community structure. The application of NPK plus manure organic-inorganic fertilizer may be a sound fertilizer practice for sustainable food production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grafting watermelon onto bottle gourd rootstock is commonly used method to generate resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (FON), but knowledge of the effect of the root exudates of grafted watermelon on this soil-borne pathogen in rhizosphere remains limited. To investigate the root exudate profiles of the own-root bottle gourd, grafted-root watermelon and own-root watermelon, recirculating hydroponic culture system was developed to continuously trap these root exudates. Both conidial germination and growth of FON were significantly decreased in the presence of root exudates from the grafted-root watermelon compared with the own-root watermelon. HPLC analysis revealed that the composition of the root exudates released by the grafted-root watermelon differed not only from the own-root watermelon but also from the bottle gourd rootstock plants. We identified salicylic acid in all 3 root exudates, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid in root exudates from own-root bottle gourd and grafted-root watermelon but not own-root watermelon, and abundant cinnamic acid only in own-root watermelon root exudates. The chlorogenic and caffeic acid were candidates for potentiating the enhanced resistance of the grafted watermelon to FON, therefore we tested the effects of the two compounds on the conidial germination and growth of FON. Both phenolic acids inhibited FON conidial germination and growth in a dose-dependent manner, and FON was much more susceptible to chlorogenic acid than to caffeic acid. In conclusion, the key factor in attaining the resistance to Fusarium wilt is grafting on the non-host root stock, however, the root exudates profile also showed some contribution in inhibiting FON. These results will help to better clarify the disease resistance mechanisms of grafted-root watermelon based on plant-microbe communication and will guide the improvement of strategies against Fusarium-mediated wilt of watermelon plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]