Responses of Rhizosphere Fungal Communities to the Sewage Sludge Application into the Soil
by
Katarína Ondreičková 1,*
, Marcela Gubišová 1, Michaela Piliarová 2, Miroslav Horník 2, Pavel Matušinský 3,4, Jozef Gubiš 1, Lenka Klčová 1, Martina Hudcovicová 1 and Ján Kraic 1,2
Katarína Ondreičková 1,*, Marcela Gubišová 1, Michaela Piliarová 2, Miroslav Horník 2, Pavel Matušinský 3,4, Jozef Gubiš 1, Lenka Klčová 1, Martina Hudcovicová 1 and Ján Kraic 1,2
1
National Agricultural and Food Centre—Research Institute of Plant Production, Bratislavská cesta 122, 921 68 Piešťany, Slovakia
2
University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Námestie J. Herdu 2, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
3
Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Palacký University in Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic
4
Agrotest fyto, Ltd., Havlíčkova 2787, 767 01 Kroměříž, Czech Republic
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Microorganisms 2019, 7(11), 505; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7110505
Received: 16 September 2019 / Revised: 21 October 2019 / Accepted: 28 October 2019 / Published: 29 October 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Microbial Interactions)
Due to the increasing sewage sludge production in the world and problems with its disposal, an application of sludge to the soil appears to be a suitable solution considering its fertilizer properties and ability to improve the soil physical conditions. On the other hand, the sludge may also contain undesirable and toxic substances. Since soil microorganisms are sensitive to environmental changes, they can be used as indicators of soil quality. In this study, we used sewage sludge (SS) from two municipal wastewater treatment plants (SS-A and SS-B) in the dose of 5 t/ha and 15 t/ha in order to determine possible changes in the fungal community diversity, especially arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), in the rhizosphere of Arundo donax L. Rhizosphere samples were collected in summer and autumn for two consecutive years and the fungal diversity was examined using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and 18S rDNA sequencing. Fungal alpha diversity was more affected by SS-A than SS-B probably due to the higher heavy metal content. However, based on principal component analysis and ANOSIM, significant changes in overall fungal diversity were not observed. Simultaneously, 18S rDNA sequencing showed that more various fungal taxa were detected in the sample with sewage sludge than in the control. Glomus sp. as a representative of AMF was the most represented. Moreover, Funneliformis in both samples and Rhizophagus in control with Septoglomus in the sludge sample were other representatives of AMF. Our results indicate that the short-term sewage sludge application into the soil does not cause a shift in the fungal community composition.
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Keywords:
arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; fungal community; genetic diversity; sewage sludge; T-RFLP; 18S rDNA sequencing
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MDPI and ACS Style
Ondreičková, K.; Gubišová, M.; Piliarová, M.; Horník, M.; Matušinský, P.; Gubiš, J.; Klčová, L.; Hudcovicová, M.; Kraic, J. Responses of Rhizosphere Fungal Communities to the Sewage Sludge Application into the Soil. Microorganisms 2019, 7, 505.
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