Seasonal dynamics of the microbiome of chernozems of the long-term agrochemical experiment in Kamennaya Steppe

The seasonal variability (spring–summer–autumn) of the taxonomic structure of prokaryotic microbiomes in chernozems of Kamennaya Steppe was studied using sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The samples were collected from the topsoil (0–20 cm) horizons of a long-term fallow and croplands differing in the rates of application of mineral fertilizers (NPK). The seasonal dynamics of the prokaryotic community in the soils of the fallow and croplands were similar: the summer samples significantly differed from the spring ones; in autumn, the microbiome structure approached that in spring; these changes were probably related to corresponding changes in the temperature and moisture conditions of the growing season. For all the plots, significant seasonal changes in the proportions of Thaumarchaeota (Cranarchaeota), Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Verrucomicrobia phylogenetic groups were observed. The significant changes in the structure of the microbiomes (especially in the number of representatives of the Firmicutes, Cemmatiomonadetes, and Verrucomicrobia phyla) were revealed in the arable and fallow soils irrespectively of the season. The phylogenetic diversity estimated by the Shannon index, the number of the operating taxonomic units found, and the Chao1 index differed little in the soils of the studies plots. The long-term application of mineral fertilizers at different rates had little effect on the taxonomic structure and diversity of prokaryotic communities in the agrochernozems.