Chandran Subha, Loganathachetti Dinesh Sanka, Sadaiappan Balamurugan, Swarup Sanjay, Mundra Sunil
Department of Biology, College of Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Institut für Biodiversität, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany.
Curr Res Microb Sci. 2025 Mar 3;8:100370. doi: 10.1016/j.crmicr.2025.100370. eCollection 2025.
Saline groundwater irrigation is a predominant practice, especially in date palm (.) farms in arid agroecosystems with scarce freshwater resources. Despite its economic importance, the influence of saline groundwater irrigation on bulk soil fungi remains overlooked. This study examined how saline groundwater irrigation affects fungal diversity, community structure, and assembly processes. Bulk soils from date palm farms with distinct irrigation sources (freshwater and saline groundwater), were analysed, and fungal community analyses were done using the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequencing. Soils irrigated with saline groundwater had a lower percentage (27%) of unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) compared to freshwater (33.3%). Fungal richness negatively correlated with soil pH. Differences observed in overall and guild-specific fungal communities, with irrigation water electrical conductivity (EC) emerging as a pivotal factor distinguishing between the two irrigation sources. Notably, pathotrophs abundance was significant in soils irrigated with saline groundwater. Furthermore, the dominant pathotroph , exhibited drift-based assembly process and was observed to be high under saline groundwater irrigation. Our study reveals that groundwater salinity reduces the number of unique OTUs and alters fungal communities at the overall and guild levels. This insight aids agricultural improvement in regions where saline groundwater is a predominant water source.
盐水地下水灌溉是一种主要的做法，特别是在淡水资源稀缺的干旱农业生态系统中的枣椰树农场。尽管其具有经济重要性，但盐水地下水灌溉对土壤真菌的影响仍然被忽视。本研究调查了盐水地下水灌溉如何影响真菌多样性、群落结构和组装过程。对来自具有不同灌溉水源（淡水和盐水地下水）的枣椰树农场的土壤进行了分析，并使用内转录间隔区2（ITS2）测序进行真菌群落分析。与淡水灌溉的土壤（33.3%）相比，盐水地下水灌溉的土壤中独特的可操作分类单元（OTU）百分比更低（27%）。真菌丰富度与土壤pH呈负相关。在整体和特定功能类群的真菌群落中观察到差异，灌溉水电导率（EC）成为区分两种灌溉水源的关键因素。值得注意的是，致病营养型真菌在盐水地下水灌溉的土壤中丰度显著。此外，优势致病营养型真菌表现出基于漂移的组装过程，并且在盐水地下水灌溉下含量较高。我们的研究表明，地下水盐度会减少独特OTU的数量，并在整体和功能类群水平上改变真菌群落。这一见解有助于在盐水地下水是主要水源的地区改善农业。
