Long-Term Maize-Legume Intercropping Shifts Structure and Composition of Soil Microbiome with Potential Impacts on Ecosystem Services and Food Safety (original) (raw)

Purpose: Push-pull is an intercropping technology that rapidly spreads among Sub-Saharan smallholder farmers. It intercrops maize with Desmodium to fight off stem borers, eliminate parasitic weeds, and improve soil fertility and yields. The above-ground components of push-pull cropping have been well investigated. However, impact on and from the soil microbiome and its role in diverse ecosystem benefits are unknown. Here we describe the soil microbiome associated with push-pull and compare it with maize monoculture.Methods: Soil samples from long-term maize-desmodium intercropping and maize monoculture plots were analysed using 16S and ITS metagenomics.Results: Maize-desmodium intercropping caused a strong divergence in fungal microbiome, which was more diverse and species rich than monoculture plots. Zooming into genera revealed that intercropping enhanced fungal genera linked to important ecosystem services. These include mycorrhizal and endophytic groups such as Edenia, Acrocalym...

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