Abstract
Aims
In comparison to the accumulated knowledge related to the legume-cereal intercrops, very little is known on both basic and applied aspects of the legume-brassica intercrops. In fact, the potential of legume-brassica intercrops was enormous to improve crop yields, biomass, nitrogen uptake, the economic reliability via land equivalent ratio, and so on. Therefore, in the present study, the Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus L.)-rape (Brassica napus L.) intercropping system was investigated. The specific objective of this study was to investigate how Chinese milk vetch affects the soil microbial community in rhizosphere of rape.
Methods
A series of bucket experiments based on Chinese milk vetch-rape intercrops, included root separation and straw mulching, were employed to explore the soil properties and soil microbes in rhizosphere of rape.
Results
Intercropping substantially decreased the organic carbon content and the total nitrogen content and changed the C/N ratios. Intercropping also decreased the soil microbial biomass in rape rhizosphere (including the total PLFAs, bacteria, actinomycete, AM-fungi, and so on). In addition, intercropping and straw mulching also changed the structure of soil microbial community in rape rhizosphere, which was significantly correlated with 16:1w9c and 18:3w6c (6, 9, 12). At the same time, under the influence of intercropping Chinese milk vetch, soil microbial functional activity in rape rhizosphere was significantly reduced. Soil microbial community functional composition in rape rhizosphere was also changed greatly by intercropping, which was significantly correlated with d-glucosaminic acid and g-1-phosphate under no straw mulching, and glycogen, d-xylose and 2-hydroxy benzoic acid under straw mulching.
Conclusions
Intercropping Chinese milk vetch decreased soil microbial biomass and functional activity and changed greatly the soil microbial community structural and functional composition in rape rhizosphere. Our findings revealed that root interaction between Chinese milk vetch and rape was a crucial factor to manage the crop intercropping, which might, in turn, determine the soil microbe on rhizosphere.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- AWCD:
-
Average well color development
- PLFA:
-
Phospholipid fatty acid
- TC:
-
Total carbon
- TN:
-
Total nitrogen
- WSOC:
-
Water-soluble organic carbon
- G+:
-
Gram-positive bacterium
- G−:
-
Gram-negative bacterium
References
Acosta-Martinez V, Acosta-Mercado D, Sotomayor-Ramirez D, Cruz-Rodriguez L (2008) Microbial communities and enzymatic activities under different management in semiarid soils. Appl Soil Ecol 38:249–260
Acosta-Martinez V, Burow G, Zobeck TM, Allen VG (2010) Soil microbial communities and function in alternative systems to continuous cotton. Soil Sci Soc Am J 74:1181–1192
Andersen MK, Hauggaard-Nielsen H, Ambus P, Jensen ES (2004) Biomass production, symbiotic nitrogen fixation and inorganic N use in dual and tricomponent annual intercrops. Plant Soil 266:273–287
Antanasović S, Ćupina B, Krstić Ð, Manojlović M, Čabilovski R, Marjanovi’c-Jeromela A, Mikić A (2012) Potential of autumn-sown rapeseed (Brassica napus) as a green manure crop. Cruciferae Newsletter 31:26–28
Atemkeng MF, Remans R, Michiels J, Tagne A, Ngonkeu ELM (2011) Inoculation with Rhizobium etli enhances organic acid exudation in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) subjected to phosphorus deficiency. Afr J Agric Res 6:2235–2242
Bainard LD, Koch AM, Gordon AM, Klironomos JN (2013) Growth response of crops to soil microbial communities from conventional monocropping and tree-based intercropping systems. Plant Soil 363:345–356
Banik P, Sasmal T, Ghosal PK, Bagchi DK (2000) Evaluation of mustard (Brassica compestris var. Toria) and legume intercropping under 1:1 and 2:1 row replacement series systems. J Agron Crop Sci 185:9–14. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1439-037X.2000.00388.x
Bedoussac L, Justes E (2010) The efficiency of a durum wheat-winter pea intercrop to improve yield and wheat grain protein concentration depends on N availability during early growth. Plant Soil 330:19–35
Bligh EG, Dyer WJ (1959) A rapid method of total lipid extraction and purification. Can J Biochem Physiol 37:911–917
Cheshire MV, Bedrock CN, Williams BL, Chapman SJ, Solntseva I, Thomsen I (1999) The immobilization of nitrogen by straw decomposing in soil. Eur J Soil Sci 50:329–341
Corre-Hellou G, Fustec J, Crozat Y (2006) Interspecific competition for soil N and its interaction with N2 fixation, leaf expansion and crop growth in pea-barley intercrops. Plant Soil 282:195–208
Ćupina B, Mikić A, Marjanović-Jeromela A, Živanov D, Krstić Ð, Antanasović S, Terzić S, Erić P (2014) Forage dry matter crude protein yield in the intercrops of spring-sown brassicas with legumes. Cruciferae Newsletter 33:13–15
Dai CC, Chen Y, Wang XX, Li PD (2013) Effects of intercropping of peanut with the medicinal plant Atractylodes lancea on soil microecology and peanut yield in subtropical China. Agrofor Syst 87:417–426
Devi KN, Shamurailatpam D, Singh TB, Athokpam HS, Singh NB, Singh NG, Singh LN, Singh AD, Chanu OP, Singh SR, Devi KP, Devi LS (2014) Performance of lentil (Lens culinaris M.) and mustard (Brassica juncea L.) intercropping under rainfed conditions. Aust J Crop Sci 8:284–289
Elfstrand S, Hedlund K, Martensson A (2007) Soil enzyme activities, microbial community composition and function after 47 years of continuous green manuring. Appl Soil Ecol 35:610–621
Francis CA (1990) Potential of multiple cropping systems. In: Altieri MA, Hecht SB (eds) Agroecology and small farm development. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp 137–150
Frostegard A, Baath E (1996) The use of phospholipid fatty acid analysis to estimate bacterial and fungal biomass in soil. Biol Fertil Soils 22:59–65
Frostegard A, Tunlid A, Baath E (1991) Microbial biomass measured as total lipid phosphate in soils of different organic content. J Microbiol Methods 14:151–163
Frostegard A, Tunlid A, Baath E (1993) Phospholipid fatty acid composition, biomass, and activity of microbial communities from two soil types experimentally exposed to different heavy metals. Appl Environ Microbiol 59:3605–3617
Gomez E, Ferreras L, Toresani S (2006) Soil bacterial functional diversity as influenced by organic amendment application. Bioresour Technol 97:1484–1489
Goyal S, Mishra MM, Dankar SS, Kapoor KK, Batra R (1993) Microbial biomass turnover and enzyme activities following the application of farmyard manure to field soils with and without previous long-term applications. Biol Fertil Soils 15:60–64
Hauggaard-Nielsen H, Gooding M, Ambus P, Corre-Hellou G, Crozat Y, Dahlmann C, Dibet A, Fragstein PV, Pristeri A, Monti M, Jensen ES (2009) Pea-barley intercropping for efficient symbiotic N2-fixation, soil N acquisition and use of other nutrients in European organic cropping systems. Field Crop Res 113:64–71
He JZ, Xu ZH, Hughes J (2006) Molecular bacterial diversity of a forest soil under residue management regimes in subtropical Australia. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 55:38–47
Hedlund K (2002) Soil microbial community structure in relation to vegetation management on former agricultural land. Soil Biol Biochem 34:1299–1307
Inal A, Gunes A, Zhang F, Cakmak I (2007) Peanut/maize intercropping induced changes in rhizosphere and nutrient concentrations in shoots. Plant Physiol Biochem 45:350–356
Iyyemperumal K, Shi W (2008) Soil enzyme activities in two forage systems following application of different rates of swine lagoon effluent or ammonium nitrate. Appl Soil Ecol 38:128–136
Jeromela AM, Mikić AM, Vujić S, Ćupina B, Krstić Đ, Dimitrijević A, Vasiljević S, Mihailović V, Cvejić S, Miladinović D (2017) Potential of legume–brassica intercrops for forage production and green manure: encouragements from a temperate Southeast European environment. Front Plant Sci 8:1–7
Klose S, Acosta-Martinez V, Ajwa HA (2006) Microbial community composition and enzyme activities in a sandy loam soil after fumigation with methyl bromide or alternative biocides. Soil Biol Biochem 38:1243–1254
Kong WD, Zhu YG, Fu BJ, Marschner P, He JZ (2006) The veterinary antibiotic oxytetracycline and Cu influence functional diversity of the soil microbial community. Environ Pollut 143:129–137
Larkin RP, Honeycutt CW (2006) Effects of different 3-year cropping systems on soil microbial communities and Rhizoctonia diseases of potato. Phytopathology 96:68–79
Li X, Zhang HH, Yue BB, Jin WW, Xu N, Zhu WX, Sun GY (2012) Effects of mulberry-soybean intercropping on carbon-metabolic microbial diversity in saline-alkaline soil. Chin J Appl Ecol 23(7):1825–1831
Ma L, Ma K, Tang MJ, Dai XH (2013) Effects of intercropping and inoculation of AMF on the microbial community structure and function of continuous cropping soil. Ecol Environ Sci 22(8):1341–1347
Malhi SS (2012) Improving crop yield, N uptake and economic returns by intercropping barley or canola with pea. Agric Sci 3:1023–1033. https://doi.org/10.4236/as.2012.38124
Marschner P, Crowley D, Yang CH (2004) Development of specific rhizosphere bacterial communities in relation to plant species, nutrition and soil type. Plant Soil 261:199–208
Marschner P, Neumann G, Kania A, Weiskopf L, Lieberei R (2002) Spatial and temporal dynamics of the microbial community structure in the rhizosphere of cluster roots of white lupin (Lupinus albus L.). Plant Soil 246:167–174
Mikić A, Ćupina B, Mihailović V, Krstić Ð, Ðorđević V, Perić V, Srebrić M, Antanasović S, Marjanović-Jeromela A, Kobiljski B (2012) Forage legume intercropping in temperate regions: models and ideotypes. In: Lichtfouse E (ed) Sustainable agriculture reviews 11. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 161–182
Mikić A, Ćupina B, Rubiales D, Mihailović V, Šarûnaitë L, Fustec J, Antanasović S, Krstić Đ, Bedoussac L, Zorić L, Đorđević V, Perić V, Srebrić M (2015) Developments, and perspectives of mutual legume intercropping. Adv Agron 130:337–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.agron.2014.10.004
Naudin C, Corre-Hellou G, Pineau S, Crozat Y, Jeuffroy MH (2010) The effect of various dynamics of N availability on winter pea-wheat intercrops: crop growth, N partitioning and symbiotic N2 fixation. Field Crop Res 119:2–11
Obbard JP (2001) Ecotoxicological assessment of heavy metals in sewage sludge amended soils. Appl Geochem 16:1405–1411
Pelzer E, Bazot M, Makowski D, Corre-Hellou G, Naudin C, Rifai MA, Baranger E, Bedoussac L, Biarnès V, Boucheny P, Carrouée B, Dorvillez D, Foissy D, Gaillard B, Guichard L, Mansard M, Omon B, Prieur L, Yvergniaux M, Justes E, Jeuffroy M (2012) Pea-wheat intercrops in low-input conditions combine high economic performances and low environmental impacts. Eur J Agron 40:39–53
Qin XM, Zheng Y, Tang L, Long GQ (2015) Effects of maize and potato intercropping on rhizosphere microbial community structure and diversity. Acta Agron Sin 41(6):919–928
Raghothama KG (1999) Phosphate acquisition. Annu Rev Plant Biol 50:665–693
Sharma RC, Banik P (2015) Baby corn-legumes intercropping systems: I. Yields, resource utilization efficiency, and soil health. Agroecol Sustain Food Syst 39(1):41–61
Singh RK, Kumar H, Singh AK (2010) Brassica based intercropping systems - a review. Agric Rev 31:253–266
Song YN, Zhang FS, Marschner P, Gao HM, Bao XG, Sun JH, Li L (2007) Effect of intercropping on crop yield and chemical and microbiological properties in rhizosphere of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize (Zea mays L.), and faba bean (Vicia faba L.). Biol Fertil Soils 43:565–574
Waldrop MP, Balser TC, Firestone MK (2000) Linking microbial community composition to functional in a tropical soil. Soil Biol Biochem 32:1837–1846
Wang DM, Marschner P, Solaiman Z, Rengel Z (2007) Growth, P uptake and rhizosphere properties of intercropped wheat and chickpea in soil amended with iron phosphate or phytate. Soil Biol Biochem 39:249–256
Xu Y, Wang G, Jin J, Liu J, Zhang Q, Liu X (2009) Bacterial communities in soybean rhizosphere in response to soil type, soybean genotype, and their growth stage. Soil Biol Biochem 41:919–925
Zhang NN, Sun YM, Wang ET, Yang JS, Yuan HL, Scow KM (2015b) Effects of intercropping and Rhizobial inoculation on the ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in rhizospheres of maize and faba bean plants. Appl Soil Ecol 85:76–85
Zhang XH, Lang DY, Zhang EH, Zhang YJ (2015a) Effect of intercropping of Angelica sinensis with garlic on its growth and rhizosphere microflora. Int J Agric Biol 17(3):554–560
Zhang XQ, Huang GQ, Bian XM, Zhao QG (2013) Effects of nitrogen fertilization and root interaction on the agronomic traits of intercroppedmaize, and the quantity of microorganisms and activity of enzymes in the rhizosphere. Plant Soil 368:407–417
Zhou Q, Wang LC, Ma SM, Zhang XD, Xing Y, Zhang S (2018) Influences of rape intercropping with Chinese milk vetch and straw mulching on productive benefits in dryland of Southwest China. Acta Agron Sin 44(3):431–441
Zhou XG, Yu GB, Wu FZ (2011) Effects of intercropping cucumber with onion or garlic on soil enzyme activities, microbial communities and cucumber yield. Eur J Soil Biol 47:279–287
Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Elke Plaas from Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University of Göttingen, Germany for critical review of the manuscript.
Funding
This study was financially supported by the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (201503127) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31271673, 31871583).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Elizabeth M Baggs.
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhou, Q., Chen, J., Xing, Y. et al. Influence of intercropping Chinese milk vetch on the soil microbial community in rhizosphere of rape. Plant Soil 440, 85–96 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04040-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04040-x