Microbiome resilience of Amazonian forests: Agroforest divergence to bacteria and secondary forest succession convergence to fungi.

An alarming and increasing deforestation rate threatens Amazon tropical ecosystems and subsequent degradation due to frequent fires. Agroforestry systems (AFS) may offer a sustainable alternative, reportedly mimicking the plant-soil interactions of the natural mature forest (MF). However, the role of microbial community in tropical AFS remains largely unknown. This knowledge is crucial for evaluating the sustainability of AFS and practices given the key role of microbes in the aboveground-belowground interactions. The current study, by comparing different AFS and successions of secondary and MFs, showed that AFS fostered distinct groups of bacterial community, diverging from the MFs, likely a result of management practices while secondary forests converged to the same soil microbiome found in the MF, by favoring the same groups of fungi. Model simulations reveal that AFS would require profound changes in aboveground biomass and in soil factors to reach the same microbiome found in MFs. In summary, AFS practices did not result in ecosystems mimicking natural forest plant-soil interactions but rather reshaped the ecosystem to a completely different relation between aboveground biomass, soil abiotic properties, and the soil microbiome.

Litter decomposition and nutrient release dynamics of leaves and roots of the babassu palm in eastern Amazonia

The ruderal babassu palm (Attalea speciosa) is expanding on large areas of degraded Amazon landscapes. Decomposition of leaves and roots is in the center of plant:soil interactions. We evaluated decomposition and nutrient concentrations of leaves and fine roots of babassu in comparison with two exotic reference species, Acacia mangium (slow degradability) and Leucaena leucocephala (fast degradability), in a 138-day litterbag assay carried out in secondary forest stands of different age and babassu abundance. We chose 4-mm over 2-mm mesh litterbags based on a pilot study. Babassu leaves degraded slower than leaves of A. mangium and L. leucocephala, and also had lower nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium concentrations in all stages of decomposition. By contrast, potassium concentrations in babassu leaves were higher than in both reference species at 0 and 50 days. Roots of all three species decomposed slower than leaves. Compared to the leaves, both biomass loss and nutrient concentrations differed less between babassu and reference-species roots, except for lower nitrogen concentration in babassu roots. Leaf-litter decomposition of all three species was significantly faster in old than in young secondary forest, suggesting an acceleration of decomposition along succession. Babassu leaves decomposed faster in old babassu-dominated than non-dominated secondary forest, pointing to the existence of specialized decomposer communities in babassu-dominated stands. (AU)

Microbial N-cycling gene abundance is affected by cover crop specie and development stage in an integrated cropping system.

Grasses of the Urochloa genus have been widely used in crop-livestock integration systems or as cover crops in no-till systems such as in rotation with maize. Some species of Urochloa have mechanisms to reduce nitrification. However, the responses of microbial functions in crop-rotation systems with grasses and its consequence on soil N dynamics are not well-understood. In this study, the soil nitrification potential and the abundance of ammonifying microorganisms, total bacteria and total archaea (16S rRNA gene), nitrogen-fixing bacteria (NFB, nifH), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB, amoA) and archaea (AOA, amoA) were assessed in soil cultivated with ruzigrass (Urochloa ruziziensis), palisade grass (Urochloa brizantha) and Guinea grass (Panicum maximum). The abundance of ammonifying microorganisms was not affected by ruzigrass. Ruzigrass increased the soil nitrification potential compared with palisade and Guinea grass. Ruzigrass increased the abundance of N-fixing microorganisms at the middle and late growth stages. The abundances of nitrifying microorganisms and N-fixers in soil were positively correlated with the soil N-NH4+ content. Thus, biological nitrogen fixation might be an important input of N in systems of rotational production of maize with forage grasses. The abundance of microorganisms related to ammonification, nitrification and nitrogen fixing and ammonia-oxidizing archea was related to the development stage of the forage grass.

Resistência a metais pesados, antimicrobianos e formação de biofilme em cepas de Escherichia coli isoladas em praias de São Luís - Maranhão / Resistance to heavy metals, antimicrobial and biofilm formation in Escherichia coli isolated from beaches of São Luis, Maranhão, Brazil

A cidade de São Luís, capital do estado do Maranhão, possui um sistema ineficiente de tratamento de seus efluentes e boa parte deles é lançada nos rios ou diretamente nas praias. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o grau de resistência aos metais pesados de 39 cepas de E.coli, isoladas da água de praias da cidade, além de sua suscetibilidade a antibióticos e sua capacidade de produzir biofilme. A análise da resistência aos metais pesados foi realizada pelo método de diluições sucessivas nas concentrações de 1 a 16mM.O teste de sensibilidade, ou antibiograma, foi executado pelo método de difusão em disco, utilizando-se os seguintes antibióticos: Aztreonam, Imipenem, Cefalotina, Ampicilina/Sulbactam, Gentamicina, Ampicilina, Cefuroxima sódica, Amoxicilina, Piperacilina+Tazobactam (TZP), Trimetoprim-Sulfametoxazol (SXT) e Amoxicilina+Ácido Clavulânico (AMC). Para detecção de biofilme nas cepas de E. coli, foram utilizadas as técnicas de Ágar Vermelho Congo (AVC) e Espectrofotometria (ESP). Os resultados mostraram 2 cepas tolerantes a concentrações de Hg a 1mM, 9 cepas resistentes ao Cu e Cd a 4mM e 12 ao Ni a 4mM. O exame de susceptibilidade aos antibióticos mostrou os seguintes percentuais de resistência das amostras: 15 por cento a ATM, 95 por cento a KF, 85 por cento a ASB, 85 por cento a CN, 87 por cento a AMP, 13 por cento a CXM, 5 por cento a TZP, 74 por cento a SXT e 18 por cento a AMC. Quanto à produção de biofilme, 20 por cento apresentaram elevada produção, 36 por cento fraca produção e 44 por cento não produziram. Pela técnica de espectrofotometria, somente 1 cepa (2,5 por cento) revelou-se produtora moderada de biofilme, 5 (12,5 por cento) foram classificadas como não produtoras e as demais, 34 (85 por cento), como fracas produtoras. A presença de bactérias com múltiplos perfis de resistência nas praias de São Luís pode representar riscos para a saúde pública e causar alterações diretas na ecologia das comunidades de micro-organismos marinhos.

The city of São Luís, located in the State of Maranhão has inefficient treatment of sewage, which isreleased into the rivers or directly on the beaches. This study evaluated the resistance of 39 strainsof Escherichia coli to Cu, Ni, Cd and Hg, their susceptibility to antibiotics and ability for biofilmproduction. Samples were collected from the beaches of Ponta D’Areia, São Marcos, Calhau andOlho d’Água. The antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed by the disk diffusion method withthe following antibiotics: Aztreonam (ATM), Imipenem (IMP), Cephalothin (KF), Ampicillin /Sulbactam (ASB), Gentamicin (CN), Ampicillin (AMP), Cefuroxime sodium (CXM), Amoxicillin(AML), Piperacillin Tazobactam (TZP), Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT) and Amoxicillin+ clavulanic acid (AMC). The detection of biofilm production was performed using Congo RedAgar (CRA) and spectrophotometry (ESP). The results showed 2 strains were Hg tolerant (1mM), 9 strains resistant to Cu and Cd (4 mM) and 12 strains resistant to Ni (4 mM). The antibioticsusceptibility tests showed resistance to ATM (15 percent of samples), KF (95 percent), BSA (85 percent), CN (5 percent),AMP (87 percent), CXM (13 percent), TZP (5 percent), SXT (74 percent) and AMC (18 percent). For the synthesis of biofilm inCRA 20 percent showed strong production, 36 percent low and 44 percent did not produce. By spectrophotometryonly 1 (2.5 percent) proved to be a moderate biofilm producer, 5 (12.5 percent) were classified as non-producersand the other 34 (85 percent) weak producers. The presence of bacteria with antimicrobial and heavy metalresistance profiles, and production of biofilms represents a public health risk and cause of directchanges in ecological communities of marine microorganisms.