Manipulation of the rhizosphere microbial community through application of a new bio-organic fertilizer improves watermelon quality and health

PLoS One. 2018 Feb 16;13(2):e0192967. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192967. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Bio-organic fertilizers (BOFs) combine functional microbes with a suitable substrate and have been shown to effectively suppress soil-borne diseases and promote plant growth. Here, we developed a novel bio-organic fertilizer (BOF) by fermentation of a cow plus chicken manure (M) compost using Fen-liquor Daqu (FLD) as a fermentation starter and compared the compositions of bacterial and fungal communities in the rhizosphere soil of watermelon plants after treatment with different fertilizers. Further, we aimed to explore the mechanisms underlying plant-promoting and disease (Fusarium wilt)-suppressing activities of each rhizosphere microbial community. The microbial communities of soil amended with cow plus chicken manure compost (S+M), soil amended with the BOF (S+BOF), and untreated control soil (S) without plants were analyzed through sequence analysis using the Illumina MiSeq platform. The results showed that a new microbial community was formed in the manure compost after fermentation by the Daqu. Application of the BOF to the soil induced remarkable changes in the rhizosphere microbial communities, with increased bacterial diversity and decreased fungal diversity. Most importantly, S+BOF showed the lowest abundance of Fusarium. Moreover, watermelon quality was higher (P < 0.05) in the S+BOF than in the S+M treatment. Thus, application of the BOF favorably altered the composition of the rhizosphere microbial community, suppressing Fusarium wilt disease and promoting plant quality.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacteria / classification
  • Bacteria / drug effects
  • Cattle
  • Chickens
  • Citrullus / growth & development*
  • Citrullus / microbiology
  • Citrullus / physiology
  • Fertilizers / microbiology*
  • Manure / microbiology*
  • Microbial Consortia
  • Plant Diseases / microbiology
  • Plant Diseases / prevention & control*
  • Rhizosphere*
  • Soil Microbiology*

Substances

  • Fertilizers
  • Manure

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported in part by grants from the Shanxi Normal University Science and Technology Development and Application Fund (YK1502); Shanxi Province key research and development programs Fund (201703D221026-1) and the Basic Research Project of Shanxi Province (201701D221169). The funders had no role in study design, date collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.