AUTHOR=Debode Jane , De Tender Caroline , Soltaninejad Saman , Van Malderghem Cinzia , Haegeman Annelies , Van der Linden Inge , Cottyn Bart , Heyndrickx Marc , Maes Martine 

TITLE=Chitin Mixed in Potting Soil Alters Lettuce Growth, the Survival of Zoonotic Bacteria on the Leaves and Associated Rhizosphere Microbiology

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00565

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.00565

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Chitin is a promising soil amendment for improving soil quality, plant growth, and plant resilience. The objectives of this study were twofold. First, to study the effect of chitin mixed in potting soil on lettuce growth and on the survival of two zoonotic bacterial pathogens, <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> O157:H7 and <italic>Salmonella enterica</italic> on the lettuce leaves. Second, to assess the related changes in the microbial lettuce rhizosphere, using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis and amplicon sequencing of a bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragment and the fungal ITS2. As a result of chitin addition, lettuce fresh yield weight was significantly increased. <italic>S. enterica</italic> survival in the lettuce phyllosphere was significantly reduced. The <italic>E. coli</italic> O157:H7 survival was also lowered, but not significantly. Moreover, significant changes were observed in the bacterial and fungal community of the lettuce rhizosphere. PLFA analysis showed a significant increase in fungal and bacterial biomass. Amplicon sequencing showed no increase in fungal and bacterial biodiversity, but relative abundances of the bacterial phyla <italic>Acidobacteria, Verrucomicrobia</italic>, <italic>Actinobacteria</italic>, <italic>Bacteroidetes</italic>, and <italic>Proteobacteria</italic> and the fungal phyla <italic>Ascomycota</italic>, <italic>Basidiomycota</italic>, and <italic>Zygomycota</italic> were significantly changed. More specifically, a more than 10-fold increase was observed for operational taxonomic units belonging to the bacterial genera <italic>Cellvibrio</italic>, <italic>Pedobacter</italic>, <italic>Dyadobacter</italic>, and <italic>Streptomyces</italic> and to the fungal genera <italic>Lecanicillium</italic> and <italic>Mortierella</italic>. These genera include several species previously reported to be involved in biocontrol, plant growth promotion, the nitrogen cycle and chitin degradation. These results enhance the understanding of the response of the rhizosphere microbiome to chitin amendment. Moreover, this is the first study to investigate the use of soil amendments to control the survival of <italic>S. enterica</italic> on plant leaves.</p>