Exploration of microbial diversity of anoxeic soil under submerged low land paddy cultivation by culture independent methods for its consequent ramifications on environment, soil health and sustainability

Abstract

Soil harbors a major portion of earth’s terrestrial biodiversity. Soil microbes, the primary components of soil biodiversity provide crucial ecosystem services.   The diversity stems from the heterogeneous environmental conditions in soil, which creates numerous distinct microbial habitats with unique assemblages that remain dynamic over time and space. An investigation on the microbiome of the soil from paddy growing site and non-paddy soil of Bhagwatipara region in Rangamati, Kamrup district, Assam, India, was carried out using metagenomic analysis. By comparing the paddy soil microbiome with that of non-paddy soil from the same location, this research aimed to understand how paddy cultivation influences indigenous soil microflora and explore the broader impacts of ecological disturbances on microbial community diversity. Greater number of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) were observed in the paddy field soil samples suggesting disturbance induced increase in bacterial diversity in paddy soil owing to its higher moisture content as well as agricultural activities. However, non-paddy soil lacks dynamic environmental conditions and exhibit lower microbial diversity. But the increase of microbial diversity of the paddy field cannot be said to be an indicator of good soil health as there is increase in the number methanogens associated with greenhouse gas emission and also many other bacteria belonging to Actinobacteriaceae, Ktedonobacteraceae and Xanthobacteraceae family that breakdown complex organic matter, abundant in the paddy fields.  The research documents the bacterial diversity of paddy fields along with that of adjacent non paddy fields and underscores the impact of anthropogenic activities on soil microbial diversity which in turn has a direct impact on ecosystem as a whole.

 Key Words:  Metagenomics, microbial diversity, non-paddy field soil, paddy field soil, soil microbiome