Abstract

The use of pesticides on a long-term basis is a characteristic feature of the contemporary agroecosystems, yet the long-term consequences of this practice on soil microbial communities and their subsequent impact on the interactions between plants and insects is too under researched. This paper investigates the remodeling of soil microbiome structure and capability triggered by chronic exposure to pesticides, and the subsequent belowground features that are transmitted to influence physiological properties in plants and insect herbivores. Agricultural fields which had a history of continuous pesticide application (termed more than ten years) as well as fields under reduced pesticides management were both used to collect soil samples. Through high throughput sequencing of bacterial (16S rRNA) and fungal (ITS) communities, diversity of the microorganisms, community structure and functional pathways were characterized. Growth of plants in heritage soils was measured, and inducible defense responses and volatile organic compounds emissions of the plants were measured together with insect behavior, performance and development of the chosen herbivores. Prolonged exposure of pesticides resulted in a profound decrease in microbial diversity, distortion of the complexity of communal networks, and nascent functionality gene pattern depending on nutrient cycling and modulating plant protection. These alterations in the microbiome have been linked to inhibited plant defensive reactions and adapted volatile dialog, which lead to an improved rate of feeding and functioning of herbivores. The findings indicate that the extensive use of pesticides generates long-term legacies in the forms of enduring microbiome that reorganize beneath the soil surface-zenith interactions and determine multitrophic relationships. The results demonstrate the necessity to consider the dynamics of soil microbiomes as a component of the pest management and agricultural sustainability systems and note that the long-term use of chemicals can have unregulated ecological implications that are not limited to what the chemical is intended to do.