Scientific Journal Article: Notes Capture Sheet

This sheet provides easy access for later use whenever you read an article, pertinent book chapter, or research on
the web, use the following format to make an electronic record of your notes for later use. Put quotation marks
around any exact wording you write down so that you can avoid accidental plagiarism when you later cite the
article. However, please try to avoid direct quotes and make an effort to summarize in your own words.

Complete citation. Author(s), Date of publication, Title (book or article), Journal, Volume #, Issue #, pages:

Mia M. Howard, Christian A. Muñoz, Jenny Kao-Kniffin and Andre ́Kessler, August 2020, Soil Microbiomes From
Fallow Fields Have Species-Specific Effects on Crop Growth and Pest Resistance, Frontiers in Plant Science,
Volume 11, Article 1171, 12 pages.

Primary Author background: (place of research, education, etc.)

Mia M. Howard is a doctoral student and research assistant at Cornell University.

General subject:
Plant science

Specific subject:

Agricultural soil science

Hypothesis:
Different plants will have species-specific reactions to different soil microbiomes, with their growth and responses
to insect pests varying depending on the species and microbiome.

Methodology:

One cultivar of crop seeds per species was obtained for “Sweet Sunshine Hybrid sweet corn (maize), organic
Roma tomato, Pick-a-Bushel Hybrid cucumber, and Parris Island Cos lettuce.” from Burpee Co.
Soil microbiomes inoculants were obtained that had 3 years of conventional maize cultivation from Dunlop
Meadow. The top 10 cm of soil in each plot was obtained, 5 locations each plot, stored in plastic bags, sieved to
4.75 mm, and were stored at 4 C and sterilized soil was inoculated using these samples. This was done by “directly
inoculating a mix of triple autoclaved (with 24 h rest periods in between cycles) commercial sphagnum
moss potting media (75% (v/v)) (Lambert’s All Purpose, Quebec, Canada) and topsoil (20% (v/v)) with each field
soil inoculant at a rate of 5% (v/v),” For each inoculant 6 pots of inoculated soil were prepared and “watered them
with filter-sterilized deionized water (0.1 mm pore size, Sawyer Products, Inc., Florida, USA) to a moisture level of
approximately 10% (v/v) and allowed the pots to incubate at ambient temperature (~ 27°C) in a glasshouse at
Cornell University (Ithaca, NY, USA) for 24 h prior to planting.” Seeds were surface sterilized prior to planting and
maize and cucumber seeds were planted to a depth of 25 mm in each 10 cm pot and 6 mm for tomato and lettuce.
The plants were placed inside a glasshouse and irrigated with filter-sterilized water, while any weeds were
removed.
Measures of the longest leaf and number of leaves were recorded, after 20 days for cucumber and maize, 23 for
tomato and 31 for lettuce plants. The Specific Leaf Area and plant biomass were then measured. The resistance to
herbivore pests were then measured using cabbage looper and fall armyworm. These larvae were first given the
 Scientific Journal Article: Notes Capture Sheet

choice between discs of leaf for each plant, and then were given only one choice. The amount of leaf eaten and
weight gained was then measured.
Result(s):
“Plants generally produced the most biomass when inoculated with the oldest soil microbiome”, but results varied
for each species. Cucumber had the largest leaves when inoculated with agricultural soil microbiomes and the
smallest leaves when the inoculant was soil that had been fallow for 3 years, and the opposite occurred for lettuce,
with the biomass observing the same trends as leaf size. Maize biomass and leaf size was largest when inoculated
with soil that had been fallow for the longest, 16 years, while none of the growth measurements of tomato were
affected by inoculant age.
.
Against T.ni larvae, the agricultural microbiomes gave the plants the least resistance, as the larvae gained the most
weight and consumed the greatest amount during the no choice experiments. However, when looking at the crop
species individually,there was only a significant effect of inoculant age on the resistance of cucumber plants, which
had the most resistance with the inoculant from soil that was fallow longest. As for cabbage looper, “the S.
frugiperda larvae preferred to feed on plants inoculated with 16-year fallow versus agricultural soil microbiomes,
but did not exhibit a significant preference for plants inoculated with the other fallow microbiomes.”
Summary of key points:

Microbiomes in different periods of fallow succession had an effect on the growth and resistance to pests, with the
results varying by species. Generally, microbiomes in later stages of fallow succession granted more immunity
against pests.

Context and Significance (how this article relates to other work in the field; how it ties in with key issues
and findings by others):
Other findings such as “(Ludwig-Müller, 2015; Harun-Or-Rashid and Chung, 2017).” also show that . Other studies
like Matthews et al. (2019) shows that tomatoes are relatively unaffected by different microbiome treatments. The
study ties in with increased agricultural damage due to pests because of a warming climate, and proposes a
possible solution to make certain plant species more resilient against pests by applying microbial inoculants.

Important Figures and/or Tables (brief description; page number):

Figure 1 on page 5 shows the size of each plant species based on inoculant age.
Table 1 on page 5 shows the effect of microbial inoculants on plant growth for each species.
Figure 2 on page 6 shows the resistance to cabbage looper for each plant species inoculated with different
microbiomes.
Table 2 on page 6 shows the effects of soil microbial inoculants on resistance to cabbage looper.
Figure 3 on page 7 shows the feeding preference of cabbage looper for different species inoculated with different
microbiomes.
Figure 4 on page 7 shows the resistance to fall armyworm for each plant species inoculated with different
microbiomes.
Table 3 on page 8 shows the effects of soil microbial inoculants on resistance to fall armyworm.
Figure 5 on page 8 shows the feeding preference of fall armyworm for different species inoculated with different
microbiomes.

Other Comments (what did you learn, what did you find interesting, do you have further questions):
 Scientific Journal Article: Notes Capture Sheet

I found it very interesting that soil microbiomes have such a huge impact on plant growth, and this could be very
helpful if you want to assist your plant to grow and fortify it against pests.