Effects of foliar application of amino acid liquid fertilizers, with or without Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9, on cowpea yield and leaf microbiota

PLoS One. 2019 Sep 4;14(9):e0222048. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222048. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Leaf surface fertilization with liquid fertilizer produced from amino acids constitutes a potentially important source of nitrogen and is important for plant production. However, few reports have focused on the plant growth promotion by novel liquid fertilizers created by new amino acid resources, let alone the influence on leaf microbiota. In this study, the effects of liquid fertilizer, created by amino acids hydrolyzed from animal hairs with or without the PGPR strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9, on crop yield and leaf microbiota were investigated. The results showed that leaves sprayed with amino acid liquid fertilizer (AA) and liquid biological fertilizer (AA9) persistently increased cowpea yields compared to the control amended with chemical fertilizer (CF). Fertilization with amino acid fertilizer showed no significant difference in microbial composition compared with the CF treatment; however, the introduction of functional microbes altered the microbial composition. Pearson correlation analysis, VPA analysis and SEM models all revealed that the amino acids liquid fertilizer application, but not the functional strain or the altered microbiota, performed as the direct driver attributing to yield enhancement. We conclude that leaf fertilization with a novel amino acid liquid fertilizer can greatly enhance the crop yield and that the addition of beneficial microbes may perform the role in further altering the composition of leaf microbiota.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acids / chemistry
  • Amino Acids / pharmacology*
  • Bacillus amyloliquefaciens / drug effects
  • Bacillus amyloliquefaciens / physiology*
  • Fertilizers*
  • Microbiota / drug effects*
  • Plant Leaves / drug effects
  • Plant Leaves / growth & development
  • Plant Leaves / microbiology*
  • Vigna / drug effects*
  • Vigna / growth & development
  • Vigna / microbiology*

Substances

  • Amino Acids
  • Fertilizers

Grants and funding

RL, the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFD0500201); RL, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (KYZ201871); RL, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu (BK20160710); QS, the Priority Academic Program Development of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD); QS, the 111 project (B12009); QS, Top-notch Academic Programs Project of Jiangsu Higher Education Institution (PPZY2015A061). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.