February 2022 - 27

PLANT & SOIL HEALTH
cleared soil over time. Recipient soils
were amended with salt, nitrogen, both
or neither to determine whether these
properties impacted the microbial
communities' composition in the
recipient soil.
The team sampled the recipient soil
at two time points: one week and seven
weeks of incubation. At each time
point, researchers characterized the
microbial community by measuring
microbial biomass and taking a catalog
of the bacterial species present using
gene-sequencing techniques.
After the first week, the microbial
communities had relatively low
biomass and were dominated by a very
limited set of species in the Bacillus
and Paenibacillus genera. By seven
weeks, there was a far larger and more
diverse microbial community present.
At each time point, there were
certain bacterial species present in
every single microcosm, regardless of
the recipient soil treatment, " Kaminsky
said. " We called these 'universal
colonizers,' and most of these were in
the Bacillus or Paenibacillus genus.
This is not surprising as these bacterial
taxa are known to be ubiquitous and
fast growing in soil environments. "
In the recipient soils with salt and
nitrogen added, the accumulation of
biomass and bacterial diversity was
significantly constrained relative to
recipient soils with no additives. That
is, higher soil salinity and higher soil
nitrogen delayed the re-establishment
of a diverse soil microbiome.
" It was not surprising that high
soil salinity yielded this result, as salt
poses a significant stress to many
microbes, " Kaminsky said. " It was
somewhat surprising that high soil
nitrogen yielded this result because
nitrogen is a nutrient source instead of
a stress. However, it may have favored
a less diverse subset of fast-growing
microbes, leading to the results we
saw. "
The findings, published in
Environmental Microbiology, suggest
that factors such as nutrient and
salt accumulation, which can be
particularly problematic in high
tunnel systems, can be important
in determining which colonizing
microbes survive, Bell said. He noted
that Kaminsky has developed Penn
State Extension programs to share the
results with growers.
" Laura has worked hard to develop
both leading-edge research skills
and communication skills that allow
her to relay the state of knowledge
in our field to farmers and other
stakeholders, " he said.
Paul Esker, assistant professor of
epidemiology and field crop pathology,
aided the project.
The USDA Organic Transitions
Program, the USDA-National Institute
of Food and Agriculture, and the
National Science Foundation Graduate
Research Fellowship Program
supported this work. VGN
Research conducted by microbial ecologists in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences aims to help growers rebuild healthy soil
microbiomes after a soil-clearing event. Photo: Pexels
~ Quality Seed Since 1881 ~
Stokes Seeds Product Highlights
Researching the best for our customers since 1881.
ESPIRIT
RACEWAY
50 days. Medium to strong plant
offering a high yielding dark
green, blocky, concentrated fruit
set. Eureka style with improved
disease resistance.
54-56 days. A dark green,
smooth slicing cucumber that
contains a strong multi-virus
resistance package. Plants have
a strong vigorous vine.
TARPON
PHARAOH
Stokes Exclusive!
75 days. Compact plant,
produces dark green, smooth
blocky fruit. High yield
potential, improved length to
diameter ratio, great disease
package.
59 days. Sybaris type, with
dark green color, with mostly
4 sieve size. Upright plant
that harvest cleanly and the
majority of the pods (approx.
80%) retain their peduncles.
High yields. Exclusive.
Contact Your Area
Territory Manager:
Tim Clark
WI, MN, IA, NE, IL
608-609-5884
Bryan Hannigan
NJ, DE, MD
609-440-3685
Tom Dauria
NJ, VA, PA
908-489-4896
Tom Jacobs
MI, OH, IN
616-307-4322
Randy DeMay
New York
585-747-3379
Dominic Levari
New Jersey
856-777-0817
Karen Grybko
ME, VT NH, RI, MA
603-654-5362
Tom Pagels
NJ, MD, DE, PA
609-247-7140
- Quality Seed Since 1881 -
800-962-4999 │www.stokeseeds.com │ 13031 Reflections Dr Holland MI 49424
VGN | FEBRUARY 2022 | 25
John Hoffman
OH, IN, IL, MO
419-388-6731
NEW

http://www.stokeseeds.com

February 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2022