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Horticulturae
Special Issues
Advancements in Soil Health
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Advancements in Soil Health

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 16452

Special Issue Editors

Dr. George W. Bird

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dept. of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Interests: soil health biology; nematology; integrated pest management; sustainable development; agricultural systems; education systems
Dr. Koon-Hui Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Interests: nematode ecology; biological control; ecologically based pest management; sustainable agriculture; soil health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is a privilege to announce that Horticulturae will be publishing a Special Issue entitled Advances in Soil Health. I sincerely hope that you will submit a manuscript for inclusion in this publication. While the Special Issue is designed for comprehensive original research papers, submission of review, survey, management and briefs are also welcome. All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed prior to acceptance. The deadline for submission is 20 February 2023.

As a key aspect of future human prosperity, the overall domain of soil health is relatively new and considered a frontier for research. Significantly less, however, is known about soil biology than the physical and chemical attributes of soil.  It is anticipated that the Special Issue will facilitate an enhanced understanding of the current state of the science and technology of soil health.

Manuscripts related to the taxa of all soil trophic levels, their interactions with other soil-borne species and their abiotic environments will significantly contribute to the enhancement of the domain of soil health.

Kindly do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or [email protected] if you have questions about the Special Issue.

I look forward to receiving your manuscript.

Dr. George W. Bird
Dr. Koon-Hui Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 1103 KiB  
Article
Effects of Plasticulture and Conservation Tillage on Nematode Assemblage and Their Relationships with Nitrous Oxide Emission following a Winter Cover Cropping and Vegetable Production System
by Koon-Hui Wang, Philip Waisen, Roshan Paudel, Guihua Chen, Susan Lynn Fricke Meyer and Cerruti R. R. Hooks
Horticulturae 2022, 8(8), 728; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8080728 - 14 Aug 2022
Viewed by 1904
Abstract
Agriculture production emits significant amounts of nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas with high global warming potential. The objectives of this study were to examine whether different husbandry practices (tillage and plasticulture) following winter cover cropping would influence soil food web [...] Read more.
Agriculture production emits significant amounts of nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas with high global warming potential. The objectives of this study were to examine whether different husbandry practices (tillage and plasticulture) following winter cover cropping would influence soil food web structure and whether a change in the soil community could help mitigate N2O emission in vegetable plantings. Three consecutive field trials were conducted. A winter cover crop mix of forage radish (Raphanus sativus), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) and cereal rye (Secale cereale) were planted in all plots. Winter cover crop was terminated by flail mowing followed by (1) conventional till without surface residues [Bare Ground (BG)], (2) conventional till with black plastic mulch (BP) without surface residues, (3) strip-till (ST) with partial surface residues, or (4) no-till (NT) with surface residues. The cash crop planted subsequently were eggplant (Solanum melongena) in 2012 and 2014 and sweet corn (Zea mays) in 2013. The soil food web structure was consistently disturbed in the BP compared to other treatments as indicated by a reduction in the abundance of predatory nematodes in 2012 and 2014, and nematode maturity index in 2013 in BP. Changes in soil food web structure in the conservation tillage (NT or ST) treatments based on the weight abundance of nematode community analysis were not consistent and did not improve over the 3-year study; but were consistently improved based on functional metabolic footprint calculation at termination of cover crops of 2013 and 2014. None-the-less, the N2O emissions increased as the abundance of fungivorous nematodes increased during all three trials. It was also found that improved soil food web structure [higher abundance of omnivorous in 2012 or predatory nematodes in 2013 and 2014, and structure index (SI) in all 3 years] reduced N2O emissions. These findings suggested that proper soil husbandry practices following winter cover cropping could mitigate N2O emissions over time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Soil Health)
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19 pages, 3163 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Plant Health Status on the Community Structure and Metabolic Pathways of Rhizosphere Microbial Communities Associated with Solanum lycopersicum
by Afeez Adesina Adedayo, Ayomide Emmanuel Fadiji and Olubukola Oluranti Babalola
Horticulturae 2022, 8(5), 404; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8050404 - 4 May 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2635
Abstract
Powdery mildew disease caused by Oidium neolycopersici is one of the major diseases affecting tomato production in South Africa. Interestingly, limited studies exist on how this disease affects the community structure microbial communities associated with tomato plants employing shotgun metagenomics. In this study, [...] Read more.
Powdery mildew disease caused by Oidium neolycopersici is one of the major diseases affecting tomato production in South Africa. Interestingly, limited studies exist on how this disease affects the community structure microbial communities associated with tomato plants employing shotgun metagenomics. In this study, we assess how the health status of a tomato plant affects the diversity of the rhizosphere microbial community. We collected soil samples from the rhizosphere of healthy (HR) and diseased (DR; powdery mildew infected) tomatoes, alongside bulk soil (BR), extracted DNA, and did sequencing using shotgun metagenomics. Our results demonstrated that the rhizosphere microbiome alongside some specific functions were abundant in HR followed by DR and bulk soil (BR) in the order HR > DR > BR. We found eighteen (18) bacterial phyla abundant in HR, including Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Aquificae, Bacteroidetes, etc. The dominant fungal phyla include; Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, while the prominent archaeal phyla are Thaumarchaeota, Crenarchaeota, and Euryarchaeota. Three (3) bacteria phyla dominated the DR samples; Bacteroidetes, Gemmatimonadetes, and Thermotoga. Our result also employed the SEED subsystem and revealed that the metabolic pathways involved were abundant in HR. The α-diversity demonstrates that there is no significant difference among the rhizosphere microbiomes across the sites, while β-diversity demonstrated a significant difference. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Soil Health)
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15 pages, 1532 KiB  
Article
Rhizospheric Fungal Diversities and Soil Biochemical Factors of Fritillaria taipaiensis over Five Cultivation Years
by Nong Zhou, Maojun Mu, Hui Xie, Yu Wu, You Zhou and Weidong Li
Horticulturae 2021, 7(12), 560; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7120560 - 8 Dec 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1958
Abstract
Fritillaria taipaiensis is a valuable traditional Chinese medicinal plant that has experienced continuous decline over its cropping area. The present study aims to explore the reasons for the quality and growth decline. The fungal diversities and biochemical factors in its rhizospheric soils with [...] Read more.
Fritillaria taipaiensis is a valuable traditional Chinese medicinal plant that has experienced continuous decline over its cropping area. The present study aims to explore the reasons for the quality and growth decline. The fungal diversities and biochemical factors in its rhizospheric soils with cultivation duration from 1 up to 5 years were analyzed and compared. The results showed that rhizospheric fungi of F. taipaiensis belong to six phyla, including Neocallimastigomycota, Glomeromycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Zygomycota and Ascomycota. Thirteen genera (Pseudogymnoascus, Fusarium, Mortierella, Colletotrichum, Laetinaevia, Gibberella, Synchytrium, Lysurus, Trichocladium, Volutella, Monoblepharis, Aquamyces and Trichoderma) constituted the “core community” in the rhizosphere of F. taipaiensis. The dominant fungal genera varied significantly in rhizospheric soils with different cultivation years. The abundance of fungal species in the soil declined with the cultivation year generally. The pH, available P, organic matter and urease activity were the primary factors determining the fungal community composition in the rhizosphere. The content of organic matter, available N, P and K and the activities of urease and alkaline phosphatase decreased with cultivation years. The soil pH increased with cultivation years and was unsuitable for F. taipaiensis growth. These features suggested that long-term single planting altered the fungal community structure, fertility conditions and soil enzyme activities in F. taipaiensis rhizospheric soils, which could be detrimental for plant growth and quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Soil Health)
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14 pages, 12783 KiB  
Article
Differential Assembly and Shifts of the Rhizosphere Bacterial Community by a Dual Transgenic Glyphosate-Tolerant Soybean Line with and without Glyphosate Application
by Minkai Yang, Zhongling Wen, Chenyu Hao, Aliya Fazal, Yonghui Liao, Fuhe Luo, Weixuan Yao, Tongming Yin, Rongwu Yang, Jinliang Qi, Zhi Hong, Guihua Lu and Yonghua Yang
Horticulturae 2021, 7(10), 374; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7100374 - 8 Oct 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2074
Abstract
Modern agriculture has gained significant economic benefits worldwide with the use of genetically modified (GM) technologies. While GM crops provide convenience to humans, their biosafety has attracted increasing concern. In this study, the Illumina MiSeq was used to perform a high-throughput sequencing of [...] Read more.
Modern agriculture has gained significant economic benefits worldwide with the use of genetically modified (GM) technologies. While GM crops provide convenience to humans, their biosafety has attracted increasing concern. In this study, the Illumina MiSeq was used to perform a high-throughput sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable regions of 16S rRNA gene (16S rDNA) amplicons to compare the rhizosphere bacterial communities of the EPSPS/GAT dual transgenic glyphosate-tolerant soybean line Z106, its recipient variety ZH10, and Z106 with glyphosate application (Z106G) during flowering, seed filling, and maturing stages under field settings. At each of the three stages, the alpha and beta diversity of rhizosphere bacterial communities revealed no significant differences between ZH10, Z106, and Z106G. However, some bacterial taxa demonstrated a greater proportional contribution, particularly the nitrogen-fixing rhizobium Ensifer fredii, in the rhizospheric soil of Z106 at the seed filling and maturing stages, when compared to ZH10 and Z106G. The present study therefore suggests that the EPSPS/GAT dual transgenic line Z106 and exogenous glyphosate application have a minimal effect on the composition of the soybean rhizosphere bacterial community but have no impact on the structure of the rhizosphere microbial community during a single planting season. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Soil Health)
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Review

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24 pages, 767 KiB  
Review
Strategies to Enhance the Use of Endophytes as Bioinoculants in Agriculture
by Bartholomew Saanu Adeleke, Ayomide Emmanuel Fadiji, Modupe Stella Ayilara, Ozede Nicholas Igiehon, Blessing Chidinma Nwachukwu and Olubukola Oluranti Babalola
Horticulturae 2022, 8(6), 498; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8060498 - 3 Jun 2022
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 6879
Abstract
The findings on the strategies employed by endophytic microbes have provided salient information to the researchers on the need to maximally explore them as bio-input in agricultural biotechnology. Biotic and abiotic factors are known to influence microbial recruitments from external plant environments into [...] Read more.
The findings on the strategies employed by endophytic microbes have provided salient information to the researchers on the need to maximally explore them as bio-input in agricultural biotechnology. Biotic and abiotic factors are known to influence microbial recruitments from external plant environments into plant tissues. Endophytic microbes exhibit mutualism or antagonism association with host plants. The beneficial types contribute to plant growth and soil health, directly or indirectly. Strategies to enhance the use of endophytic microbes are desirable in modern agriculture, such that these microbes can be applied individually or combined as bioinoculants with bioprospecting in crop breeding systems. Scant information is available on the strategies for shaping the endophytic microbiome; hence, the need to unravel microbial strategies for yield enhancement and pathogen suppressiveness have become imperative. Therefore, this review focuses on the endophytic microbiome, mechanisms, factors influencing endophyte recruitment, and strategies for possible exploration as bioinoculants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Soil Health)
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