Bacterial and Fungal Communities in Cacao Plantation of Indonesia

The cacao plantations in Sulawesi Island, Indonesia are responsible for a great part of the local economy; however, their soils still need to be deeply explored. Our study focused on evaluation of the microbial communities in cacao soils according to their location and applied management system. Four soil samples were taken from six cacao farms under two kinds of systems (conventional and organic). 16S and ITS rDNA amplicon sequencing analyses of soils were also performed to identify bacteria and fungi, respectively, whereby their relative abundance and diversity were determined. In general view, the bacterial and fungal communities were affected by the management system at the local and general levels. Bacterial analyses indicated that the number of operational taxonomic units and bacterial diversity were higher under the organic system in Kulawi, Palolo, and Poso farms. The composition and biodiversity of fungi were clearly different between organic and conventional systems and between different places (coastal and inland). The effect of agricultural management was observed in each location individually and in general.