Andong Shi1,2,3, Katherine Linsell1,2, Danièle Giblot-Ducray1,2, Timothy Cavagnaro2,3, Krista Sumby2, Dr. Bettina Berger2,4, Chris Brien2,4, Nathaniel Jewell2,4, A. Prof Stuart Roy2, Rhiannon Schilling1,2,3
1SARDI, Urrbrea, 5064, Australia, 2School of Agriculture Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond, 5064, Australia, 3College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, 5042, Australia, 4The Plant Accelerator, Australian Plant Phenomics Facility, The University of Adelaide, PMB 1, Glen Osmond, 5064, Australia
Biography:
Dr. Andong Shi has been working in the Agronomy group at SARDI in the past 1.5 years or so, learning new and practical side of the story in agriculture, particularly in broadacre farming system. Previously he worked in soil ecology/biology, focussed on soil microbial responses to abiotic stresses, root-soil interaction in simulated soil growing condition, and non-destructive imaging system for root and shoot of various crop types.
Abstract:
Nematodes communities represent the most diverse and abundant multicellular fauna in the soil ecosystem, and the multi-feeding channels of nematodes provide an important linkage within the soil food web, as well as between soil and plant interactions. However, given the complex connection in the soil microbiome and the diversity of soil nematodes, their contribution, relative to other soil fauna, on enhancing plant growth and development rather than hindering growth remains largely unknown in soil ecosystem. In this experiment, we initially separated soil nematode communities from the remaining microbial communities (including bacteria and fungi), and then re-introduced either or both communities to a sterilised soil. Non-sterilised soil was also included. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of the soil nematode community and indigenous soil microbial community on the growth of wheat and canola, using three different soil types from South Australia and Victoria. Plant growth was monitored using high-throughput imaging over 6 weeks; soil was tested at the end of the experiment, including sequencing for microbial community and qPCR for nematode community. Plant growth was more strongly influenced by sterilisation, irrespective of crop type, rather than by the addition of either nematode or microbial communities. Among all treatments with sterilised soil, the addition of either nematodes or microbial communities altered the growth rate for both canola and wheat, with the effect being stronger for canola. These findings provide a new insight into the role of different components of the soil food web on crop production.