The relationship between rhizosphere
microbiome and oilseed rape (OSR)
yield decline
Graham Teakle & Gary Bending, School of Life Sciences
Background
• Plant roots not only uptake nutrients from
the soil, but they also secrete, or exude, a
significant proportion of organic compounds
into the soil.
• These exudates are responsible for recruiting
a range of bacterial and fungal microbes to
the root zone, which is known as the
rhizosphere.
• These microbes can have both a positive role
for the plant in terms of helping to make
nutrients available for uptake, or a negative
role through parasitic or pathogenic
interactions. The latter are responsible for
huge global crop losses.
• Strategies to manipulate the rhizosphere
communities have potential to deliver great
benefits.
2. Functional responses of the rhizosphere to rotation
Aims
1. Determine role of spatial distribution, rotation history
and soil biodiversity on the rhizosphere community.
Performed at 3 sites: Warwick Crop Centre, Harper
Adams University and Rothamsted Research.
2. Identify the core and satellite oilseed rape
rhozosphere microbiomes.
Rotation
3. Establish the potential for root microbiome
engineering and mitigation of yield decline though
crop genotype and soil management strategies.
2013-14
2014-15
201516
2016-17
Continuous
OSR
Wheat
OSR
OSR
OSR
OSR 1 in 2
Wheat
OSR
Wheat
OSR
Virgin OSR
Wheat
Wheat
Wheat
OSR
We will perform four sets of field
experiments:
3. Affect of OSR genotype on the rhizosphere
microbiome
1. UK landscape scale analysis of OSR rhizosphere
communities in rotation with wheat
4 contrasting varieties grown in all 21 possible rotation
combinations over 3 years at Warwick Crop Centre.
Selected sites
on Velcourtmanaged
farms:
Brash
Clay
Loam
Sandy Clay Loam
Silt
4. Engineering the root microbiome through soil
management
Apply range of soil sterilisation treatments to a
Rothamsted Research field plot that has been
continuously cropped with OSR since 1991.
For each experimental treatment the rhizosphere
microbiome composition will be determined using
next generation sequencing and the results tested for
correlations with OSR yield
Warwick Crop Centre
www.warwick.ac.uk/go/wcc