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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » WHGQ » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #375978
Research Project: Biology, Ecology, and Genomics of Pathogenic and Beneficial Microorganisms of Wheat, Barley, and Biofuel Brassicas

Location: Wheat Health, Genetics, and Quality Research

Title: Responses of soil fungal communities to lime application in wheat fields in the Pacific Northwest

Author
item YIN, C - Washington State University
item Schlatter, Daniel
item KROESE, D - Oregon State University
item Paulitz, Timothy
item HAGERTY, C - Oregon State University

Submitted to: Frontiers in Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/21/2021
Publication Date: 5/20/2021
Citation: Yin, C., Schlatter, D.C., Kroese, D., Paulitz, T.C., Hagerty, C. 2021. Responses of soil fungal communities to lime application in wheat fields in the Pacific Northwest. Frontiers in Microbiology. 12. Article 576673. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.576763.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.576763

Interpretive Summary: Low soil pH is becoming a problem in dryland wheat production because of 60 years of ammonium use and nitrification. A liming trial was conducted at two location in NE Oregon, applying micronized lime at rates from 0, 673, 1345 and 2690 kg ha-1. Soil was sampled at three depths, and fungal communities were characterized with next generation sequencing. Soil depth and location of the field had stronger effects on fungal communities, the effect of liming was smaller. Some families in the upper surface were positively correlated with soil OM and aluminum, and negatively with pH, whereas some families in the deeper soil showed the opposite trends. Fungal diversity and richness were not affected by liming, indicating that the fungal community is fairly resilient.

Technical Abstract: Liming is an effective agricultural practice and broadly used to ameliorate soil acidification in agricultural ecosystems. Our understanding of the impacts of lime application on soil fungal community is scarce. In this study, we explored the responses of fungal communities to liming at two locations with decreasing soil pH in Oregon in the Pacific Northwest using high-throughput sequencing (Illumina MiSeq). Our results revealed that the location, soil depth and liming did not significantly affect soil fungal diversity and richness. In contrast, location and soil depth had a strong effect on the structure and composition of soil fungal communities, whereas the impact of liming was much smaller, and location- and depth- dependent. Interestingly, families Lasiosphaeriaceae, Piskurozymaceae, and Sordariaceae predominated in the surface soil (0-7.5 cm) and were positively correlated with soil OM and aluminum, and negatively with pH. The family Kickxellaceae predominated in deeper soil (15-22.5 cm) had an opposite response to soil OM, aluminum, and pH. Furthermore, some taxa in Ascomycota, such as Hypocreales, Peziza and Penicillium, were increased by liming at one of the locations (Moro). In conclusion, these findings suggest that fungal community structure and composition rather than fungal diversity responded to location, soil depth and liming. Compared to liming, location and depth had a stronger effect on fungal communities, but some specific fungal taxa shifted with lime application.