Open AccessExploring soil microbial 16S rRNA sequence data to increase carbon yield and nitrogen efficiency of a bioenergy crop
Author(s) -
Pitombo Leonardo M.,
Carmo Janaína B.,
Hollander Mattias,
Rossetto Raffaella,
López Maryeimy V.,
Cantarella Heitor,
Kuramae Eiko E.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
gcb bioenergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.378
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1757-1707
pISSN - 1757-1693
DOI - 10.1111/gcbb.12284
Subject(s) - vinasse , bioenergy , biofuel , agronomy , straw , crop residue , environmental science , soil carbon , denitrification , ethanol fuel , biology , soil water , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , agriculture , ecology , nitrogen , food science , fermentation , organic chemistry
Abstract Crop residues returned to the soil are important for the preservation of soil quality, health, and biodiversity, and they increase agriculture sustainability by recycling nutrients. Sugarcane is a bioenergy crop that produces huge amounts of straw (also known as trash) every year. In addition to straw, the ethanol industry also generates large volumes of vinasse, a liquid residue of ethanol production, which is recycled in sugarcane fields as fertilizer. However, both straw and vinasse have an impact on N 2 O fluxes from the soil. Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that is a primary concern in biofuel sustainability. Because bacteria and archaea are the main drivers of N redox processes in soil, in this study we propose the identification of taxa related with N 2 O fluxes by combining functional responses (N 2 O release) and the abundance of these microorganisms in soil. Using a large‐scale in situ experiment with ten treatments, an intensive gas monitoring approach, high‐throughput sequencing of soil microbial 16S rRNA gene and powerful statistical methods, we identified microbes related to N 2 O fluxes in soil with sugarcane crops. In addition to the classical denitrifiers, we identified taxa within the phylum Firmicutes and mostly uncharacterized taxa recently described as important drivers of N 2 O consumption. Treatments with straw and vinasse also allowed the identification of taxa with potential biotechnological properties that might improve the sustainability of bioethanol by increasing C yields and improving N efficiency in sugarcane fields.