Phosphorus source driving the soil microbial interactions and improving sugarcane development

The world demand for phosphate has gradually increased over the last decades, currently achieving alarming levels considering available rock reserves. The use of soil microorganisms, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), has been suggested as a promising alternative to improve phosphorus-use efficiency. However, the effect of the source of phosphorus on the interactions within the soil microbial community remains unclear. Here, we evaluated the links between the total dry matter content of sugarcane and the interactions within the soil microbial community under different phosphate sources, with/without AMF inoculation. The phosphate sources were Simple Superphosphate (SS, 18% of P₂O₅), Catalão rock phosphate (CA, 2.93% of P₂O₅) and Bayovar rock phosphate (BA, 14% of P₂O₅). The results indicated that the BA source led to the largest total dry matter content. The phosphate source affected total dry matter and the structure of the soil microbial communities. The bacterial interactions increased across sources with high percentage of P₂O₅, while the fungal interactions decreased. The interactions between bacterial and fungal microorganisms allowed to identify the percentage of P₂O₅ resulting in the highest total sugarcane dry matter. Our findings suggested the soil microbial interactions as a potential microbial indicator helping to improve the agricultural management.