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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Hard Winter Wheat Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #342004
Title: Loss of soil microbial diversity may increase insecticide uptake by crop

Author
item ZHANG, MIN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item LIANG, YONGCHAO - Zhejiang University
item SONG, ALIN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item YU, BING - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item ZENG, XIABAI - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item Chen, Ming-Shun
item YIN, HUAQUN - Central South University
item ZHANG, XIAOXIA - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item SUN, BAOLI - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item FAN, FENLIANG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences

Submitted to: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/9/2017
Publication Date: 3/1/2017
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/5641147
Citation: Zhang, M., Liang, Y., Song, A., Yu, B., Zeng, X., Chen, M., Yin, H., Zhang, X., Sun, B., Fan, F. 2017. Loss of soil microbial diversity may increase insecticide uptake by crop. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 240: 84-91 doi:10.1016/j.agee.2017.02.010.

Interpretive Summary: Insecticides left in the environment after application for pest management is a great concern to human health and ecosystem function. This study investigated the impact of the diversity of belowground bacteria on degradation of the insecticides acetamiprid and imidacloprid. Our findings revealed that the loss of bacterial biodiversity affected the accumulation of insecticides in soil and plant tissues. We also identified a group of bacteria that have a greater impact on the stability of insecticides in the environment. A better understanding of factors that affect insecticide accumulation in soil and plant tissues may eventually help to reduce insecticide contamination and harmful effects to human health and ecosystem function.

Technical Abstract: Belowground biodiversity is essential for soil functioning, but the effect of belowground biodiversity loss on food safety is unknown. We investigated the loss of soil microbial diversity on insecticides accumulation in Brassica. We manipulated soil biodiversity using the dilution-to-extinction approach in a Brassica-soil-insecticide system, monitored microbial communities via high-throughput sequencing, and identified potential functional microbes. Compared with unsterilized soil, the richness of functional bacteria was reduced by 14.1%, 36.2%, 51.6% and 73.2%, respectively, in the corresponding sterilized soil inoculated with 1-, 10-2-, 10-4- and 10-6-fold diluted soil suspension. The acetamiprid and imidacloprid concentrations increased significantly in Brassica tissues grown in sterilized soil inoculated with 10-6-fold diluted suspension. A bacterial group predominated in functional microbes of soils inoculated with 1-, 10-2- or 10-4-fold diluted suspension, but the relative abundance declined in soil inoculated with a 10-6-fold diluted suspension. Our findings revealed that undesirable impacts by the loss of soil biodiversity at an intermediate level on the accumulation of soil contaminant in plants could be alleviated by microbial functional redundancy through disproportionally complementary growth of specific functional microbial taxa, but severe loss of soil biodiversity would threaten food safety.