Plant-soil feedback and crop rotation

Plant-soil feedback (PSF) can be a major driver of plant performance in communities, and this concept can be used in selecting crop rotation sequences to maximize agricultural yields. Potential benefits of using PSF in this context include nutrient use optimization, pathogen reduction and enhancement of mutualisms between crops and microbes. Yet, the contributions of these combined mechanisms are poorly understood. Here we investigated the relative contributions of these mechanisms using five major crops commonly cultivated in rotation (alfalfa, canola, maize, soybean and wheat) under controlled conditions. We trained soil by growing each of the five crops in a ‘training phase’, and then reciprocally planted the five crops in the trained soils in a ‘feedback phase’. To tease out soil biota from nutrient effects, we established three treatments: ‘control’ (trained unsterilized soil used in the feedback phases), ‘biota’ (sterilized soil in the feedback phase inoculated with soil biota fro...植物-土壤反馈（Plant-soil feedback, PSF）是调控群落中植物生长表现的关键驱动因子，该概念可应用于作物轮作序列筛选，以最大化农业产量。在此场景下应用PSF的潜在优势包括养分利用优化、病原菌削减以及强化作物与微生物间的共生互作。然而，这些协同作用机制的相对贡献仍有待深入解析。本研究以五种常见轮作作物——苜蓿（alfalfa）、油菜（canola）、玉米（maize）、大豆（soybean）和小麦（wheat）为实验材料，在受控环境下探究了上述各机制的相对贡献。我们先通过在“驯化阶段”种植五种作物中的每一种完成土壤驯化，随后在“反馈阶段”将五种作物互作种植于经驯化的土壤中。为厘清土壤生物群落与养分效应的独立作用，我们设置了三组处理：“对照”（反馈阶段使用的未灭菌驯化土壤）、“生物群”（反馈阶段接种土壤生物群的灭菌土壤……