The contrasting responses of soil microorganisms in two rice cultivars to elevated ground-level ozone

Although elevated ground-level O₃ has a species-specific impact on plant growth, the differences in soil biota responses to O₃ pollution among rice cultivars are rarely reported. Using O₃ Free-Air Concentration Enrichment, the responses of the rhizospheric bacterial communities in the O₃-tolerant (YD6) and the O₃-sensitive (IIY084) rice cultivars to O₃ pollution and their differences were assessed by pyrosequencing at rice tillering and anthesis stages. Elevated ground-level O₃ negatively influenced the bacterial community in cultivar YD6 at both rice growth stages by decreasing the bacterial phylogenetic diversities and response ratios. In contrast, in cultivar IIY084, the bacterial community responded positively at the rice tillering stage under O₃ pollution. However, several keystone bacterial guilds were consistently negatively affected by O₃ pollution in two rice cultivars. These findings indicate that continuously O₃ pollution would negatively influence rice agroecosystem and the crop cultivar is important in determining the soil biota responses to elevated O₃.