Stubble Management Plays a Greater Role than Tillage Practice in Shaping Soil Microbiome Structure and Function

Tillage and stubble management play crucial roles in conservation agriculture, exerting a considerable influence on soil properties. This study aims to focus on the gaps in our understanding of how tillage and stubble management interact to affect the taxonomic and functional structure of the soil m...

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Main Authors: Chang Xu, Ruey Toh, Jishun Li, Yi Zhou, Matthew D. Denton
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Agriculture
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/2/143
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author Chang Xu
Ruey Toh
Jishun Li
Yi Zhou
Matthew D. Denton
author_facet Chang Xu
Ruey Toh
Jishun Li
Yi Zhou
Matthew D. Denton
author_sort Chang Xu
collection DOAJ
description Tillage and stubble management play crucial roles in conservation agriculture, exerting a considerable influence on soil properties. This study aims to focus on the gaps in our understanding of how tillage and stubble management interact to affect the taxonomic and functional structure of the soil microbiome. Soil samples were collected from a long-term field trial implementing no tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) with stubble retention and removal. Metagenomic sequencing facilitated the assembly of a gene catalog comprising 4.36 billion non-redundant genes. Stubble management markedly altered both the taxonomic and functional composition of the prokaryotic community, the addition of stubble caused a significant increase in Proteobacteria, but a decrease in Chloroflexi compared with no stubble. The key prokaryotic species and gene functions contributing most to the dissimilarity of the prokaryotic communities between the treatments with and without stubble were identified, including <i>Rhodospirillum</i> sp. Stubble retention increased the availability of carbon resources in the soil, resulting in a higher proportion of genes functional for metabolic activity and plant–pathogen interactions. However, tillage practice did not influence the structure or diversity of the soil prokaryote community. Our findings identify the target microbial species for future isolation, enabling the development of eco-friendly biofertilizers to promote sustainable agriculture.
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spelling doaj-art-5579d5178b79400e90dffdf87198c38b2025-01-24T13:15:53ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722025-01-0115214310.3390/agriculture15020143Stubble Management Plays a Greater Role than Tillage Practice in Shaping Soil Microbiome Structure and FunctionChang Xu0Ruey Toh1Jishun Li2Yi Zhou3Matthew D. Denton4School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Urrbrae, SA 5064, AustraliaSchool of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Urrbrae, SA 5064, AustraliaEcology Institute of Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250013, ChinaSchool of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Urrbrae, SA 5064, AustraliaSchool of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Urrbrae, SA 5064, AustraliaTillage and stubble management play crucial roles in conservation agriculture, exerting a considerable influence on soil properties. This study aims to focus on the gaps in our understanding of how tillage and stubble management interact to affect the taxonomic and functional structure of the soil microbiome. Soil samples were collected from a long-term field trial implementing no tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) with stubble retention and removal. Metagenomic sequencing facilitated the assembly of a gene catalog comprising 4.36 billion non-redundant genes. Stubble management markedly altered both the taxonomic and functional composition of the prokaryotic community, the addition of stubble caused a significant increase in Proteobacteria, but a decrease in Chloroflexi compared with no stubble. The key prokaryotic species and gene functions contributing most to the dissimilarity of the prokaryotic communities between the treatments with and without stubble were identified, including <i>Rhodospirillum</i> sp. Stubble retention increased the availability of carbon resources in the soil, resulting in a higher proportion of genes functional for metabolic activity and plant–pathogen interactions. However, tillage practice did not influence the structure or diversity of the soil prokaryote community. Our findings identify the target microbial species for future isolation, enabling the development of eco-friendly biofertilizers to promote sustainable agriculture.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/2/143wheatmaizemicrobesstrawrhizosphere
spellingShingle Chang Xu
Ruey Toh
Jishun Li
Yi Zhou
Matthew D. Denton
Stubble Management Plays a Greater Role than Tillage Practice in Shaping Soil Microbiome Structure and Function
Agriculture
wheat
maize
microbes
straw
rhizosphere
title Stubble Management Plays a Greater Role than Tillage Practice in Shaping Soil Microbiome Structure and Function
title_full Stubble Management Plays a Greater Role than Tillage Practice in Shaping Soil Microbiome Structure and Function
title_fullStr Stubble Management Plays a Greater Role than Tillage Practice in Shaping Soil Microbiome Structure and Function
title_full_unstemmed Stubble Management Plays a Greater Role than Tillage Practice in Shaping Soil Microbiome Structure and Function
title_short Stubble Management Plays a Greater Role than Tillage Practice in Shaping Soil Microbiome Structure and Function
title_sort stubble management plays a greater role than tillage practice in shaping soil microbiome structure and function
topic wheat
maize
microbes
straw
rhizosphere
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/2/143
work_keys_str_mv AT changxu stubblemanagementplaysagreaterrolethantillagepracticeinshapingsoilmicrobiomestructureandfunction
AT rueytoh stubblemanagementplaysagreaterrolethantillagepracticeinshapingsoilmicrobiomestructureandfunction
AT jishunli stubblemanagementplaysagreaterrolethantillagepracticeinshapingsoilmicrobiomestructureandfunction
AT yizhou stubblemanagementplaysagreaterrolethantillagepracticeinshapingsoilmicrobiomestructureandfunction
AT matthewddenton stubblemanagementplaysagreaterrolethantillagepracticeinshapingsoilmicrobiomestructureandfunction