Abstract
The microbial network of rhizosphere is unique as a result of root exudate. Insights into the relationship that exists with the energy metabolic functional groups will help in biofertilizer production. We hypothesize that there exists a relationship between nitrifying microorganisms and other energy metabolic functional microbial groups in the maize rhizosphere across different growth stages. Nucleospin soil DNA extraction kit was used to extract DNA from soil samples collected from maize rhizosphere. The 16S metagenomics sequencing was carried out on Illumina Miseq. The sequence obtained was analyzed on MG-RAST. Nitrospira genera were the most abundant in the nitrifying community. Nitrifying microorganisms were more than each of the studied functional groups except for nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Also, majority of the microorganisms were noticed at the fruiting stage and there was variation in the microbial structure across different growth stages. The result showed that there exists a substantial amount of both negative and positive correlation within the nitrifying microorganisms, and between them and other energy metabolic functional groups. The knowledge obtained from this study will help improve the growth and development of maize through modification of the rhizosphere microbial community structure.
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Data availability
The raw 16S sequencing data for maize rhizosphere were deposited at the NCBI sequence read archive (SRA) with accession numbers. SRR14978863 (1st replication of bulk rhizosphere), SRR14978852 (2nd replication of bulk rhizosphere), SRR14978855 (3rd replication of bulk rhizosphere), SRR14978856 (1st replication of pretasseling rhizosphere), SRR14978857 (2nd replication of pretasseling rhizosphere), SRR14978858 (3rd replication of pretasseling rhizosphere), SRR14978859 (1st replication of tasseling rhizosphere), SRR14978860 (2nd replication of tasseling rhizosphere), SRR14978861 (3rd replication of tasseling rhizosphere), SRR14978862 (1st replication of fruiting rhizosphere), SRR14978853 (2nd replication of fruiting rhizosphere), and SRR14978854 (3rd replication of fruiting rhizosphere). The BioProject number is PRJNA742235.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the National Research Foundation of South Africa for funding research in Babalola's lab (UID123634, UID132595). The North-West University has provided O.E.A. with a bursary.
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The study was funded by the National Research Foundation of South Africa through O.O.B. from the grants (UID123634, UID132595).
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O.E.A. did the experiment and wrote the paper, A.S.A critiqued and reviewed the manuscript, while O.O.B conceptualized the work, secured funding, led the sample collection, provided academic input and expertise to co-authors, commented on the manuscript at all stages, and thoroughly critiqued the article.
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Ayiti, O.E., Ayangbenro, A.S. & Babalola, O.O. Relationship between nitrifying microorganisms and other microorganisms residing in the maize rhizosphere. Arch Microbiol 204, 246 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-022-02857-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-022-02857-2