Influence of agricultural practices and seasons on the abundance and community structure of culturable pseudomonads in soils under no-till management in Argentina

Background and aims

Members of the genus Pseudomonas are common inhabitants of rhizospheres and soils, and it is known that soil types and crop species influence their population density and structure. 20?×?10⁶ ha are cultivated under no-tillage in Argentina and there is a need to find new biologically-based soil quality indexes to distinguish between sustainable and non-sustainable agricultural practices. Pseudomonads abundance and community structure were analyzed in no-till soils with different agricultural practices, in productive fields along 400 km of Argentinean Pampas.

Methods

We sampled soils and root systems from agricultural plots in which sustainable or non-sustainable agricultural practices have been applied. Samples were collected in summer and winter during 2010 and 2011. Culturable fluorescent and total pseudomonads were enumerated by plating on Gould’s selective medium S1. Colonies from these plates served as DNA source to carry out PCR-RFLP community structure analysis of the pseudomonads-specific marker genes oprF and gacA.

Results

Abundance of total and fluorescent culturable pseudomonads in bulk soils was influenced by seasonal changes and agricultural practices. Rhizospheric counts from the same crop were affected by agricultural treatments. Also, crop species influenced pseudomonads density in the rhizosphere. Combined PCR-RFLP profile of both genes showed a seasonal grouping of samples.

Conclusions

Sustainable soil management seems to promote pseudomonads development in soils, favoring root colonization of crops from those plots. Crop species influence total pseudomonads load of rhizospheres and its community structure. Total or relative pseudomonads load could function as soil quality indicator of good agricultural practices.