Chloropicrin (CP) can effectively combat soil-borne diseases but has significant side effects on nontarget microorganisms. The rhizosphere microflora play a crucial role in promoting plant growth and protecting plants from infection by soil-borne pathogens. We conducted a laboratory pot experiment to evaluate the effect of CP on the rhizosphere soil bacterial flora and the effect of biochar amendments on the reconstruction of microbial communities. Our results show that CP fumigation and biochar additions promoted the growth of cucumber plants in the later stage of the pot experiment. CP significantly inhibited the rhizobacterial diversity and changed the community composition. Biochar amendments after CP fumigation shortened the time for the rhizobacterial diversity to recover to unfumigated levels. Biochar amendments promoted the transplantation of new populations to empty microbiome niches that were caused by CP and, in particular, stimulated many beneficial microorganisms to become the predominant flora. The relative abundances of many functional taxa related to plant-disease suppressiveness and pollutant bioremediation increased, including Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas, Bacillus, Massilia, Acinetobacter, Delftia, Micromonospora, Cytophagaceae, and Flavisolibacter. These changes stimulated by biochar amendments would promote multifunctionality in the soil rhizosphere and benefit plant growth and disease resistance.
Keywords: beneficial microorganisms; biochar amendment; chloropicrin; rhizobacterial diversity; soil fumigation.