Root-associated Burkholderia spp. on the hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth.) cover crop vary depending on soil history of use

Abstract

Vicia villosa is a cover crops commonly introduced in the rotation schema of sustainable agricultural practices. As a leguminous crop, Vicia villosa interacts with rhizobia to fix atmospheric nitrogen, modifying the nutritional status of consecutive crops. The interaction with other probiotic bacteria is, however, unknown. Burkholderia spp. are dominant members of rhizosphere, providing biological functions to promote plant growth. To recognize the interaction of the hairy vetch with the relevant plant related Burkholderia spp. species we performed microcosm experiments with soils having different history of use. Results showed that populations size of Burkholderia spp. on Vicia roots were similar for all treatments irrespective of land uses history. However, Vicia villosa was able to recruited different diversity of root associated Burkholderia spp. species, ressembling the populations structure in the bulk soils. Root-associated Burkholderia spp. were mainly enriched in strains with already recognized interactions with plants. These results suggest that bulk soils with a history of crop rotation instead of monocropping contribute with a higher diversity of Burkholderia spp. species capable of interacting with hairy vetch roots.