Effects of organic fertilizers on plant growth and the rhizosphere microbiome.

Application of organic fertilizers is an important strategy for sustainable agriculture. The biological source of organic fertilizers determines their specific functional characteristics, but few studies have systematically examined these functions or assessed their health risk to soil ecology. To fill this gap, we analyzed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing data from 637 soil samples amended with plant- and animal-derived organic fertilizers (hereafter plant fertilizers and animal fertilizers). Results showed that animal fertilizers increased the diversity of soil microbiome, while plant fertilizers maintained the stability of soil microbial community. Microcosm experiments verified that plant fertilizers were beneficial to plant root development and increased carbon cycle pathways, while animal fertilizers enriched nitrogen cycle pathways. Compared with animal fertilizers, plant fertilizers harbored a lower abundance of risk factors such as antibiotic resistance genes and viruses. Consequently, plant fertilizers might be more suitable for long-term application in agriculture. This work provides a guide for organic fertilizer selection from the perspective of soil microecology and promotes sustainable development of organic agriculture.IMPORTANCEThis study provides valuable guidance for use of organic fertilizers in agricultural production from the perspective of the microbiome and ecological risk.

Plants select antibiotic resistome in rhizosphere in early stage.

Knowledge of the dissemination and emergence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the plant rhizosphere is essential for evaluating the risk of the modern ARGs in soil planetary health. However, little is known about the selection mechanism in the plant rhizosphere. Here, we firstly analyzed the dynamic changes in the rhizosphere antibiotic resistome during the process of three passage enrichment of the rhizosphere microbiome in Arabidopsis thaliana (Col-0) and found evidence that plants directionally enriched levels of beneficial functional bacteria with many ARGs. Using the metagenome, we next evaluated the enrichment potential of the resistome in four common crops (barley, indica rice, japonica rice, and wheat) and found that the wheat rhizosphere harbored more abundant ARGs. Therefore, we finally cultivated the rhizosphere microbiome of wheat for three generations and found that approximately 60 % of ARGs were associated with beneficial bacteria enriched in the wheat rhizosphere, which might enter the soil food web and threaten human health, despite also performing beneficial functions in the plant rhizosphere. Our study provides new insights into the dissemination of ARGs in the plant rhizosphere, and the obtained data may be useful for sustainable and ecologically safe agricultural development.

Healthy Taiwanese Eating Approach (TEA) toward Total Wellbeing and Healthy Longevity.

A healthy dietary pattern review for Asian countries is scarce, which is crucial for guiding healthy eating. We reviewed Taiwanese dietary pattern discovery studies. Included were 19 studies, the majority of which employed dimension reduction methods to find dietary patterns associated with various health conditions. To show what is a high or low intake of foods in Taiwan, we also report the average dietary content and the 25th and 75th percentile values of the adult population for six food groups gathered by the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan, 2017-2020. The healthy Taiwanese dietary approach is cohesive across multiple health outcomes occurring at different ages. It is featured with higher intakes of plant-based foods, aquatic foods, and some beneficial ethnic foods (soy products), drinks (tea), and cooking methods (boiling and steaming); lower intakes of fast foods, fatty and processed meats, sugar, salt rich foods/drinks, and fried foods; but with mixed findings for dairy and egg. Yet, the average Taiwanese person consumed many refined staple foods and livestock, but not sufficient vegetables, fruits, whole grains and roots, beans, and nuts. Dairy consumption remains low. In conclusion, Taiwanese discovery studies point to a mortality-lowering total wellbeing dietary pattern consistent with the current knowledge, which discloses potential benefits of soy product, tea, and boiling and steaming.