Treating wheat seeds with neonicotinoid insecticides does not harm the rhizosphere microbial community

Wheat aphids damage wheat plants directly by feeding on them and indirectly by transmitting plant pathogenic viruses, both of which result in low yield and plant death. Due to their high root absorption and systemic characteristics, neonicotinoid insecticidal seed treatments are increasingly applied to control wheat aphids throughout the growing season in China. Ecological concerns are raised in some research, because neonicotinoids can persist and accumulate in soils. They are prone to leach into waterways, and are found in crop nectars and pollens, where they may be harmful to pollinators. Less information is available about the effect of neonicotinoid seed treatments on soil microorganisms. Here, we posed the hypothesis that neonicotinoids are not harmful to soil microbial communities. We tested our hypothesis by evaluating the effects of two neonicotinoids, imidacloprid and clothianidin, on soil microbiomes using high-throughput sequencing during three points in the wheat growth season. Except for the imidacloprid-treated soil in the seedling stage, the community richness and diversity were not affected according to Chao1, ACE and the Shannon indices, and species distribution histogram at the phylum level. However, Beta diversity indices showed that the species richness of the bacterial and fungal community was suppressed by neonicotinoids in seedling stage (high neonicotinoids concentrations), whereas by the reviving period, the changes reverted into stimulation of the soil microorganisms (low neonicotinoids concentrations). Overall, the general microbiome recovered at the end of the wheat planting season. Generally, wheat seed dressing with neonicotinoid insecticides control aphids during the entire growth period, and have no lasting adverse effects on the soil microbiome. This study provides an understanding of the influence of neonicotinoids on crop land ecology at the level of soil microbe communities.