The Effect of the Microalga Chlorella vulgaris Ippas C-1 Biomass Application on Yield, Biological Activity, and the Microbiome of the Soil during Bean Growing

The current problem with phosphorus fertilizers are shortage of rock phosphate from which it is produced and adverse impact of their production and use on the environment. A promising solution is use of phosphorus-rich biomass of microalgae as biofertilizer, but possible impact of such fertilizers on the biological activity and microbiome of soils remain unknown in many aspects. We investigated the effect of Chlorella vulgaris IPPAS C-1 (Chlorophyceae)  biomass application on yield, biological activity, efficacy of the rhizobia- and cyanobacteria-based growth promoting formulations, as well as the microbiome of the soil during cultivation of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cvr. “Strela.” Total and specific yield, actual nitrification and denitrification, carbon dioxide and methane emission were determined for soil samples from the rhizosphere. The taxonomic structure of the prokaryotic community of the bean rhizosphere was determined by NGS of 16s rRNA gene amplicons on the Illumina platform. The metagenomic data were analyzed using software tools QIIME and VAMPS. It was found that the application of biomass of C. vulgaris IPPAS C-1 as a phosphorus biofertilizer increased the bulk yield of beans. It also allowed to achieve the specific yield (per plant) level provided by traditional fertilizers. The biomass application did not (i) impact the biological activity of the soil, (ii) did not increase the level of denitrification, and (iii) did not increase significantly the soil emission of the “greenhouse gases.” The Chlorella biomass application hamper the growth-promoting effect of the bacterial preparations made from rhizobia and cyanobacteria. Also, no significant changes in the taxonomic composition of the soil of the rhizosphere microbiome upon the application of the Chlorella biomass were revealed. Collectively, the results indicate the possibility of at least partial replacement of chemical fertilizers with phosphorus biofertilizers from microalgae biomass in the field growing of beans.