Tillage Management Modulates Taxonomic and Functional Structure of Soil Microbiome in Large-scale Environments
Date
2025
Authors
Xu, C.
Toh, R.
Zhou, Y.
Li, J.
Armstrong, R.
Denton, M.D.
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Journal article
Citation
Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 2025; 25(4):10715-10728
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Chang Xu, Ruey Toh, Yi Zhou, Jishun Li, Roger Armstrong, Matthew D. Denton
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Abstract
Purpose The impact of tillage management on the bacterial and functional soil microbiome has been widely studied, but has rarely focused on different environments at the global scale, where climate, soil type, and land-use history may strongly influence outcomes. Methods In the present study, we conducted metagenomic sequencing and established gene catalogues from long-term field trials under no tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) in Australia and China. Results Tillage management significantly influenced the functional composition of enriched genes, and the effect was consistent in two cropping environments. Compared with CT, NT had greater enrichment of genes with the functions as genetic information processing (33% vs. 15%), and environmental information processing (21% vs. 5%), while CT had greater enrichment of genes involved in metabolism (60% vs. 31%). These patterns suggest that NT systems may favor microbial communities with enhanced regulatory and adaptive capacities, whereas CT systems promote communities more specialized in resource utilization and metabolic turnover, potentially leading to differences in soil nutrient cycling and ecosystem services. In the Australian experiment, the higher nitrate in NT soil was possibly due to the higher relative abundance of the nitrification genes in its soil metagenome. Conclusions Our findings highlight that functional potential in soil microbiomes responds more directly to tillage than taxonomic composition, suggesting a decoupling of structure and function.
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© The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Sociedad Chilena de la Ciencia del Suelo 2025.