bioRxiv Science⌕ Search
Home/Archive/bioRxiv

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.05.24.445164

Microbial community structure in rice, crops, and pastures rotation systems with different intensification levels in the temperate region of Uruguay

Martinez, S.
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Rice is an important crop in Uruguay associated mostly with livestock production in a rice and pasture rotation system since the 1920s. However, in recent years there has been interest in intensifying the production in some of these systems to satisfy market demands and increase income. Intensification occurs by augmenting the rice frequency in the rotation, including new crops like sorghum and soybean, or shortening the pasture phase. A long-term experiment was established in 2012 in the main rice producing area of Uruguay with the objective to study the impact of intensification in rice rotations. After the first cycle of rotation soils from seven rotation phases were sampled and microbial communities were studied by means of high-throughput sequencing of Illumina NovaSeq 6000. Archaeal/bacterial and fungal community composition were studied (16S rRNA and 18S gene regions) detecting 3662 and 807 bacterial and fungal Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs), respectively. Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the most common bacterial phyla. Among them, only Proteobacteria differed significantly between rotations. Although most fungal OTUs were unidentified, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Mucoromycota were the most abundant fungal classes within identified taxa. Bacterial communities differed between rotations forming three groups according to the percentage of rice in the system. Fungal communities clustered in four groups, although not well differentiated, and mostly associated with the antecessor crop. Only P and C:N varied between rotations among soil physicochemical variables after six years, and individual bacterial OTUs appeared weakly influenced by P, pH, Mg and fungal OTUs by P. The results suggest that after six years, bacteria/archaeal communities were influenced by the time with rice in the rotation, and fungal communities were more influenced by the antecessor crop. More studies are needed to associate fungal communities with certain rotational or environmental variables. Some taxa were associated with a particular rotation, and some bacterial taxa were identified as biomarkers. Fungal indicator taxa were not identified at the species level for any rotation.

Explore related subjects

microbiologyPreprint

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Martinez, S.. 2021-05-24. Microbial community structure in rice, crops, and pastures rotation systems with different intensification levels in the temperate region of Uruguay. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.24.445164

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

A conserved cysteine-histidine-glutamate metal site identifies DUF501 (Rv1025), an essential uncharacterised protein family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as a candidate metalloenzyme and drug target

A substantial fraction of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteome remains functionally uncharacterised. Rv1025, a 155-residue protein carrying the domain of unknown function DUF501 (Pfam PF04417), is essential by transposon mutagenesis and vulnerable by CRISPR interference, an attractive but neglected drug target, yet has never been functionally described. The family (4,370 proteins, no Gene Ontology term, no solved structure) is uncharacterised across all organisms and essential in three Actinobacterial genera. A Foldseek search of the AlphaFold model against complete structural databases finds no significant homolog, indicating a novel fold. The operon eno-divIC-Rv1025-ppx2 is conserved across the Actinobacteria phylum, yet AlphaFold-Multimer finds no direct complex between Rv1025 and its neighbour DivIC. Instead, conservation across 8,700 homologous sequences reveals a near-invariant Cys113-His115-Glu59 cluster forming a pocket. Holo AlphaFold3 predictions with Zn, Fe and Mn confidently place a divalent metal on this triad at 2.25-2.47 A; mutating the triad relocates the metal, and an independent backbone-geometry predictor recovers the same site, confirming specificity. The triad is universal across the family: present in all 1,472 near-complete bacterial sequences of the Pfam alignment, with no non-conservative substitution among the 2,228 sequences examined, a defining feature of bacterial DUF501 rather than a mycobacterial peculiarity. We propose that DUF501 is a metal-binding protein and candidate metalloenzyme, the first functional hypothesis for this family, whose conserved, essential metal pocket is a promising drug target. As the predictions build on a conservation-defined site within a fully computational study, they are supportive rather than proof of metal occupancy and warrant experimental validation.

microbiology↗
bioRxiv2026

Mycoplasmal endosymbionts of Trichomonas vaginalis are associated with reduced risk for Chlamydia trachomatis endometrial infection in asymptomatic, coinfected, women.

Trichomonas vaginalis is a protozoan parasite that causes trichomoniasis, the most common curable non-viral sexually transmitted infection, and Chlamydia trachomatis is a bacterial pathogen that can ascend to the upper genital tract and cause pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy. T. vaginalis harbors bacterial endosymbionts, including Candidatus Malacoplasma girerdii, an obligate symbiont, and Metamycoplasma hominis, which can live freely or symbiotically. In a 16S rRNA sequencing study of the cervicovaginal microbiome of women at high risk for chlamydial infection, Ca. M. girerdii abundance was one of 13 features predicting lack of chlamydial spread to the endometrium, despite no direct association between T. vaginalis infection and reduced chlamydial ascension. Investigating the relationship between these microorganisms further, we found that T. vaginalis vaginal abundance correlated positively with chlamydial burden in women whose infection was confined to the cervix, while a nonsignificant inverse relationship was seen in women with endometrial spread. Among participants with high chlamydial burden, Ca. M. girerdii was detected exclusively in women without endometrial infection. Both endosymbionts trended toward more frequent detection, and higher abundance, in coinfected women without endometrial spread, while M. hominis abundance correlated strongly with T. vaginalis burden in this group. These findings suggest that mycoplasmal endosymbionts of T. vaginalis, rather than T. vaginalis itself, are microbial factors limiting chlamydial ascension, and point to a three-way interaction between parasite, endosymbiont, and bacterial pathogen that shapes upper genital tract C. trachomatis infection risk.

microbiology↗
bioRxiv2026

Understanding the physiological alterations of Vibrio cholerae upon exposure to L-ascorbic acid

The scourge of cholera remains a major global public health threat. It affects up to 4 million people worldwide and causes tens of thousands of deaths each year. The disease is experiencing a concerning resurgence in many parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. To effectively tackle cholera and circumvent rising antimicrobial resistance, targeted biological and preventive approaches, complementing traditional rehydration, are urgently needed. In this regard, our group has demonstrated the efficacy of L-ascorbic acid in controlling the growth and pathogenesis of Vibrio cholerae in vitro. The present work further provides a mechanistic elucidation of the L-ascorbic acid-mediated physiological changes in V. cholerae and also bolsters such a non-antibiotic approach to control cholera.

microbiology↗