Growth promotion and modulation of the soybean microbiome INTACTA RR PRO TM with the application of the fungi Trichoderma harzianum and Purpureocillum lilacinum

Abstract Soybean is a crop of great economic importance for animal and human nutrition. Currently, there is a lack of information on the effects of the fungi Trichoderma harzianum and Purpureocillum lilacinum on the INTACTA RR PRO TM transgenic soybean plants. The present study evaluated the application of the fungi T. harzianum and P. lilacinum under pot and field conditions. Under pot conditions, there were no significant differences in most of the parameters evaluated or in the abundance of the microbiota in the roots. However, under field conditions, the results showed a significant increase in soybean yield at 423. kg. ha − 1 with the application of P. lilacinum compared to the control treatment. In addition, the application of P. lilacinum promoted a significant increase in phosphorus levels in the aerial part, and there were significant correlations between the increase in taxon abundance for the genus Erwinia and productivity and the average phosphorus and nitrogen contents for the aerial part, for the taxon Bacillus and nitrogen content and productivity, and for the taxon Sphingomonas and nitrogen content. The Bradyrhizobium taxon was identified in the P. lilacinum treatment as a linking taxon linking two different networks of taxon and showing itself as an important taxon in the microbiota. The results show that the application of the fungus P. lilacinum can increase the productivity of the soybean INTACTA RR PRO TM and that this increase in productivity may be a function of the modulation of the microbiota composition of the plants leaves by P. lilacinum effect.