Impact of Nitrogen Rates and Landscape Position on Bacterial Taxa and Metabolic Pathways During Switchgrass Production
Presentation Type
Poster
Student
Yes
Track
Precision Ag/Biological Sciences Application
Abstract
Biofuel crops offer alternative sources of energy and are crucial for sustainability and reduced reliance on foreign oil. Switch grass is an important component of marginal land biofuel systems. Its production requires the application of nitrogen fertilizers which when applied in excess result in greenhouse gas emission, and soil health concerns. Both these processes are impacted by soil microbial communities that play a role in soil biogeochemical processes. The goal in this project is to determine the impact of nitrogen fertilizer rates (high, medium, and low), and landscape positions (crest, toe) on soil microbial communities, in order to enable better nitrogen management in switchgrass production. The composition of bacterial taxa and potential metabolic pathways present in soil samples were evaluated using next-generation sequencing data. Sequencing libraries were constructed from 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene amplicons, and the resulting sequences were analyzed using Qiime2 to determine bacterial taxonomy composition in the soil samples. The resulting Biological Observation Matrix (BIOM) files were analyzed using PICRUSt, which predicts the metagenome functional content from the 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Together the results revealed specific bacterial taxa and potential metabolic pathways that were influenced by fertilizer rates and landscape position. These results will be presented and discussed.
Start Date
2-5-2019 12:00 PM
End Date
2-5-2019 1:00 PM
Impact of Nitrogen Rates and Landscape Position on Bacterial Taxa and Metabolic Pathways During Switchgrass Production
Volstorff A
Biofuel crops offer alternative sources of energy and are crucial for sustainability and reduced reliance on foreign oil. Switch grass is an important component of marginal land biofuel systems. Its production requires the application of nitrogen fertilizers which when applied in excess result in greenhouse gas emission, and soil health concerns. Both these processes are impacted by soil microbial communities that play a role in soil biogeochemical processes. The goal in this project is to determine the impact of nitrogen fertilizer rates (high, medium, and low), and landscape positions (crest, toe) on soil microbial communities, in order to enable better nitrogen management in switchgrass production. The composition of bacterial taxa and potential metabolic pathways present in soil samples were evaluated using next-generation sequencing data. Sequencing libraries were constructed from 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene amplicons, and the resulting sequences were analyzed using Qiime2 to determine bacterial taxonomy composition in the soil samples. The resulting Biological Observation Matrix (BIOM) files were analyzed using PICRUSt, which predicts the metagenome functional content from the 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Together the results revealed specific bacterial taxa and potential metabolic pathways that were influenced by fertilizer rates and landscape position. These results will be presented and discussed.