Effect of Different Cultivation on Quantity and Activity of Azotobacter Sp. in Soil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63359/0tsm3a41Keywords:
Azotobacter spp, Abundance, Kurdistan Location, Molecular Analysis, Soil fertilityAbstract
Farmers are facing challenges with cultivating different crops because of the continuous impact of calcareous soil on microbial activities dynamics. The key objective was to identify and quantify Azotobacter spp in cultivated and uncultivated soils across different locations and analyse their phylogenetic relationships based on partial 16S rRNA gene sequences. Soils were sampled from diverse crop locations and subjected to bacterial diversity analysis using the Maximum Likelihood method. The abundance and diversity of Azotobacter varied significantly between cultivated and uncultivated soils. The cultivated soils showed a higher prevalence of Azotobacter chroococcum in all locations, while uncultivated soils contained other species such as Azotobacter vinelandii and Azotobacter salinestris. The phylogenetic analysis confirmed the close genetic links among Azotobacter spp. as well as their unique clustering in relation to other genera such as Bacillus and Xanthobacter. The 16S rRNA sequencing phylogenetic tree showed that the identified Azotobacter species and other nitrogen-fixing taxa such as Xanthobacter, Pseudomonas, and Klebsiella, have close evolutionary links. The findings also showed that improved nitrogen fixation and cation exchange characteristics were indications of increased Azotobacter activity in the cultivated soils. This prevalence of Azotobacter in cultivated soils indicated their ability for adaptability in agricultural lands. The study concludes that cultivation practices significantly influence Azotobacter populations, favouring species with high nitrogen-fixing efficiency. Enhancing Azotobacter activity in soil can improve nitrogen availability and soil fertility. It is recommended to adopt crop rotation, organic amendments, and reduced chemical fertilizer use to sustain Azotobacter populations and maintain soil health. Hence, farmers and researchers in the Kurdistan area of Erbil are advised to use biofertilizers based on Azotobacter on calcareous soils to increase soil fertility and microbial activity.
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