Carrot genotypes differentially alter soil microbial communities and scavenge nitrogen from organic materials in soil

The goals of this study were to: 1) determine whether carrot genotypes differ in their potential to facilitate organic matter decomposition to help scavenge N in soil, and 2) identify microbial taxa and predict functional genes that are stimulated by carrot roots and thus could play a role in these processes. To accomplish these goals, we grew five carrot genotypes in a nutrient-poor soil amended with 15N-enriched corn residue, tracked changes in carbon (C) and N pools, quantified microbial activity and bacterial community composition, and predicted the potential expression of microbial genes involved in soil C and N cycles