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Effect of tetraconazole application on the soil microbial community

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Abstract

Tetraconazole is one of the most commonly used triazole fungicides in agricultural practice, and its continuous application poses a potential risk for non-target soil microorganisms. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of tetraconazole at the field rate (T1, 0.33 mgkg−1 of soil), three times the field rate (T3, 1.00 mgkg−1 of soil) and 10 times the field rate (T10, 3.33 mgkg−1 of soil) on the soil microorganisms. To ascertain this effect, the tetraconazole concentration and the microbial properties with potential as bioindicators of soil health (i.e. microbial biomass C, basal respiration, substrate-induced respiration, structure diversity and functional community profiling) were determined. The results showed that the degradation half-lives of tetraconazole varied from 69 to 87 days, depending on the three application concentrations. The microbial biomass C, basal respiration and substrate-induced respiration were inhibited, but they tended to recover at the end of the incubation when tetraconazole was applied at the recommended field rate. The ratios of the gram-negative to gram-positive (GN to GP) bacteria decreased, and the fungi to bacteria ratio increased after a temporal decrease on the seventh day. A principal component analysis of the PLFAs showed that tetraconazole application significantly shifted the microbial community structure on day 7. Different functional community profiles were observed, depending on the tetraconazole application rates. It was concluded that tetraconazole application decreases the soil microbial biomass and activity and changes the structures of the soil microbial community.

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Acknowledgement

This work study was supported by the Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC, 31371968, 31171879).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China

    Wenwen Zhang, Jun Xu, Fengshou Dong, Xingang Liu, Ying Zhang, Xiaohu Wu & Yongquan Zheng

  2. College of Agriculture, Northeast Agriculture University, Harbin, 150030, China

    Wenwen Zhang

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  1. Wenwen Zhang
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  2. Jun Xu
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  3. Fengshou Dong
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  4. Xingang Liu
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  5. Ying Zhang
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  7. Yongquan Zheng
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Correspondence to Yongquan Zheng.

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Responsible editor: Robert Duran

Wenwen Zhang and Jun Xu, contributed equally to this paper.

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Zhang, W., Xu, J., Dong, F. et al. Effect of tetraconazole application on the soil microbial community. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 8323–8332 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2844-5

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