Abstract
Aims
The tropical nickel (Ni) hyperaccumulator plants, Rinorea cf. bengalensis and Phyllanthus rufuschaneyi, are locally common on ultramafic soils in the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. The aim of this study was to determine whether the structure and diversity of R. cf. bengalensis rhizosphere microbial communities were dependant on the Ni concentrations in the different rhizosphere soils studied.
Methods
Rinorea cf. bengalensis and Phyllanthus rufuschaneyi were subjected to a randomized block design experiment in which four Ni dose levels were applied (0, 60, 240, 600 mg Ni kg−1) × 5 replicates per level for 12 months cultivation. At the end of the trial foliar elemental concentrations were measured. In addition, rhizosphere soils were collected for elemental and microbial analyses. The microbial analysis consisted of measuring microbial enzymatic activities and a diversity analysis based on Illumina sequencing.
Results
The Illumina sequencing analysis yielded 2,649,138 sequences grouped under 2430 different Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) belonging to 25 phyla. No impact of the Ni amendments was shown for the four microbial enzymatic activities tested, even at the highest Ni dose level (600 mg Ni kg−1). Higher microbial enzymatic activities were found in the rhizosphere of R. cf. bengalensis relative to P. rufuschaneyi. Nickel concentrations appeared to have a high impact on the P. rufuschaneyi rhizosphere soils, whereas no effect was found for the rhizosphere bacterial community diversity of R. cf. bengalensis.
Conclusions
There may be a significant role of rhizodeposits associated with R. cf. bengalensis that protect and preserve the microbial communities in the rhizosphere, regardless of the prevailing nickel concentrations.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Sukaibin Sumail for his support during this project, and we thank Deisie Suin for taking care of the nursery. We thank Sabah Parks for granting permission to conduct research in Kinabalu Park, and the Sabah Biodiversity Council for research permits. The French National Research Agency through the national “Investissements d’avenir” program (ANR-10-LABX-21, LABEX RESSOURCES21) is acknowledged for funding support to S. Lopez, P. N. Nkrumah and A. van der Ent. Finally, we would like to thank Florian Chevereau for the enzymatic activity analysis.
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Lopez, S., Nkrumah, P.N., Echevarria, G. et al. Bacterial community diversity and functional roles in the rhizosphere of Rinorea cf. bengalensis and Phyllanthus rufuschaneyi under a nickel concentration gradient. Plant Soil 459, 343–355 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04763-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04763-2