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Effect of twenty four wheat genotypes on soil biochemical and microbial properties

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Abstract

Background and aims

Understanding the effect of wheat genotype on soil properties will be crucial in breeding towards more sustainable wheat production and increased yield. We examined the relationships between root traits, soil properties and grain yield for 24 wheat genotypes grown under field conditions.

Methods

Wheat genotypes (Triticum spp.) with a range of different genetic backgrounds (varieties, breeding and synthetic lines) were planted in the field in northern NSW, Australia. Specific root length (SRL), root diameter (RD) and the proportion of root length in different diameter classes were characterized at the stem elongation growth stage. Soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), organic nitrogen (DON), inorganic nitrogen (DIN), and soil bacterial community structure were measured.

Results

A significant wheat genotype effect was found for SRL, proportion of coarse roots (1-2 mm), MBN, MBC/MBN, TDN, and DIN. Genotypes with more fine roots generally had lower TDN, DIN and DON, higher MBN, and lower grain yield. We observed no wheat genotype effect on the structure and diversity of the soil bacterial community.

Conclusions

Long, thin wheat roots may promote microbial growth and N immobilisation, negatively affecting grain yield. We suggest that SRL, MBN and inorganic N should be considered by plant breeding schemes.

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Abbreviations

MBC:

Microbial biomass carbon

MBN:

Microbial biomass nitrogen

DOC:

Dissolved organic carbon

TDN:

Total dissolved nitrogen

DIN:

Dissolved inorganic nitrogen

DON:

Dissolved organic nitrogen

FDA:

Fluorescein diacetate

SRL:

Specific root length

RD:

Root diameter

TRL:

Total root length

T-RFLP:

Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism

OTU:

Operational taxonomic unit

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC, US00061) for funding this research. We thank Paul Adu-Gyamfi for help with soil sampling and plant measurements, and Hero Tahaei for support in the laboratory. We thank Dr. Angela Pattison for support establishing the field trial.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Carbon, Water and Food (CCWF), Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia

    Paola E. Corneo, Haruna Suenaga, Michael A. Kertesz & Feike A. Dijkstra

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  1. Paola E. Corneo
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  2. Haruna Suenaga
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  3. Michael A. Kertesz
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  4. Feike A. Dijkstra
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Correspondence to Paola E. Corneo.

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Responsible Editor: Klaus Butterbach-Bahl.

Electronic supplementary material

Fig. S1

PCA plot of soil bacterial community based on presence-absence OTU table associated with the 24 wheat genotypes measured by T-RFLP analysis. Average values were calculated over four biological replicates for each wheat genotype, by considering each OTU as present (1) if it was present in at least two out of four replicates, otherwise absent (0) (DOCX 32 kb)

Fig. S2

Linear regression of specific root length (SRL) and root diameter (RD) for the 24 genotypes. P values and r2 are indicated (DOCX 39 kb)

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Corneo, P.E., Suenaga, H., Kertesz, M.A. et al. Effect of twenty four wheat genotypes on soil biochemical and microbial properties. Plant Soil 404, 141–155 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-2833-1

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