A comparative study: impact of chemical and biological fungicides on soil bacterial communities

Soil microbial communities play key roles in agroecosystems, particularly in processes like organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling. However, human activities can negatively impact their community structure and, consequently, soil function. SoilGard and Ridomil are effective methods for controlling carrot cavity spots caused by Pythium spp., but their effects on bacterial taxonomic and metabolic function shifts are not well understood. This study aims to investigate the comparative impact of the chemical fungicide Ridomil and the biological fungicide SoilGard on the bacterial communities in soils cultivated with carrots. Our results showed that both SoilGard and Ridomil significantly impacted soil bacterial diversity, but their effects were distinct and time-dependent. Ridomil had an immediate negative effect on soil bacterial diversity two weeks after treatment, whereas SoilGard was initially less disruptive but showed delayed negative consequences 12 weeks after treatment, particularly when combined with Pythium inoculation. Ridomil treatment led to an increase in Proteobacteria, especially the Pseudomonas population, as confirmed by both MiSeq and qPCR data. In contrast, SoilGard depleted the Mycobacterium population at 12 weeks after treatment. Furthermore, the results of community-level physiological profiling using Biolog Ecoplates showed significant differences in substrate-level diversity between Ridomil and SoilGard-treated samples, indicating a shift in the metabolic activity of bacterial communities. Ridomil-treated samples showed the lowest metabolic activity of bacterial communities, based on the diversity and richness of carbon source utilization, compared to control. Overall, this research highlights the distinct and time-dependent effects of biological and chemical fungicides on soil bacterial communities when applied at recommended doses.