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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2004, p. 1475-1482, Vol. 70, No. 3
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.3.1475-1482.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Impact of Agricultural Practices on the Zea mays L. Endophytic Community

Dave Seghers, Lieven Wittebolle, Eva M. Top,{dagger} Willy Verstraete,* and Steven D. Siciliano{ddagger}

Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium

Received 11 September 2003/ Accepted 17 November 2003

Agricultural practices are known to alter bulk soil microbial communities, but little is known about the effect of such practices on the plant endophytic community. We assessed the influence of long-term applications (20 years) of herbicides and different fertilizer types on the endophytic community of maize plants grown in different field experiments. Nested PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analyses targeting general bacteria, type I or II methanotrophs, actinomycetes, and general fungi were used to fingerprint the endophytic community in the roots of Zea mays L. Low intraplant variability (reproducible DGGE patterns) was observed for the bacterial, type I methanotroph, and fungal communities, whereas the patterns for endophytic actinomycetes exhibited high intraplant variability. No endophytic amplification product was obtained for type II methanotrophs. Cluster and stability analysis of the endophytic type I methanotroph patterns differentiated maize plants cultivated by using mineral fertilizer from plants cultivated by using organic fertilizer with a 100% success rate. In addition, lower methanotroph richness was observed for mineral-fertilized plants than for organically fertilized plants. The use of herbicides could not be traced by fingerprinting the endophytic type I methanotrophs or by evaluating any other endophytic microbial group. Our results indicate that the effect of agrochemicals is not limited to the bulk microbial community but also includes the root endophytic community. It is not clear if this effect is due to a direct effect on the root endophytic community or is due to changes in the bulk community, which are then reflected in the root endophytic community.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Faculty of Agricultural and Applied Biological Sciences, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Phone: 32 (0)9 264 59 76. Fax: 32 (0)9 264 62 48. E-mail: Willy.Verstraete{at}UGent.be.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-3051.

{ddagger} Present address: Department of Soil Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A8, Canada.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2004, p. 1475-1482, Vol. 70, No. 3
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.3.1475-1482.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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