The fungal and oomycete diversity associated with commercial maize farm soils of South Africa

Abstract

Microbial communities present in agricultural soils play important roles in determining plant health and the total produce yield that a farmer will harvest. Soil that has a lower microbial diversity and which are dominated by pathogenic species, might lead to a loss of productivity due to the development of devastating diseases. With high diversity, the pathogen will have to compete for nutrients thus reducing the chances of infecting the plant. Therefore, it is important to understand the microbial communities that are present in agricultural ecosystems. This study used a culture-dependent approach to characterise fungal and oomycete communities and diversity present in maize rhizosphere soils in South Africa.