Fungal diversity on decomposing sugarcane leaf litter. leaf metagenome

To minimize the degradation of soil organic matter (SOM) content in conventional sugarcane cropping, it is important to understand how the fungal community contribute to SOM dynamics during the decomposition of sugarcane leaf litter. However, our knowledge of fungal diversity in tropical agroecosystems is currently limited. Thus, we determined the fungal community structure on decomposing sugarcane leaf litter in response to different soil management practices in Lampung Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. The results indicate that no-tillage had positive effects on the abundance of Zygomycota and wider phylogenetic range of fungal taxa than conventional tillage, although the richness of operational taxonomic unit (OTU) (85% identity threshold for clustering) did not differ between the two tillage systems. In contrast, bagasse mulching decreased the OTU richness and tended to increase Basidiomycota abundance, although some OTUs within Ascomycota were affected positively by bagasse mulch. A combination of no-tillage and bagasse mulching had positive effect on unique OTUs, while either individual system had no effect. A significant correlation between fungal community structure and litter decomposition rate suggests that the soil management practice affects litter decomposition processes.