Impact of microbial consortia and fertilization regimes on the soil microbiome in maize field trials
) in a split plot design. The diversity, composition and functional potential of the maize rhizosphere microbiome were analyzed at different maize growth stages. Fertilization levels exerted a stronger influence than microbial consortia, significantly shaping community composition and functional traits of the indigenous soil microbiome. Increasing fertilization intensity altered the abundance of specific plant growth-promoting (PGP)-determinants, either stimulating or suppressing potential PGP bacteria. In contrast, microbial consortia application did not impact PGP-associated abundance profiles. Overall, the results indicate that multifunctional microbial consortia can act as effective biofertilizers in sustainable maize cultivation without compromising resident microbiome diversity, thereby reducing long-term ecological risks on natural biodiversity.
Authors
- Giuseppe Aprea (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4969-2696)
- Filippo Sevi
- Daniel Neuhoff
- Alessio Mengoni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1265-8251)
- Annamaria Bevivino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4277-7048)
- Lisa Cangioli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7714-1704)
- Silvia Tabacchioni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0479-5168)
- Andrea Visca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1795-3532)
- Anne Pihlanto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9209-3512)
- Alexander Sczyrba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4405-3847)
- Nils Kleinbölting (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9124-5203)
- Alessia Fiore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2885-6735)
- Jonas Hett
- Andreas Schlüter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4830-310X)
- Manuela Costanzo
- Liren Huang
Institutions
- National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (IT)
- University of Bonn (DE)
- Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE)
- Bielefeld University (DE)
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (FI)
- National Agency for New Technologies Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (GB)
- University of Florence (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2026-04-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-47528-0
- Primary Topic
- Legume Nitrogen Fixing Symbiosis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- European Commission
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme