Soil fertility and productivity are severely impacted by exploitation and degradation processes. These threats, coupled with population growth and climatic changes, compel us to search for innovative agroecological solutions. Prebiotics, a type of soil biostimulant, are used to enhance soil conditions and plant growth and may play a role in carbon (C) sequestration. Two commercial prebiotics, K1® and NUTRIGEO L® (referred to as SPK and SPN, respectively), were assessed for their effects on agricultural soil cultivated with Zea mays L., compared to untreated soil or control (SP). Analyses were performed at two harvesting dates: three weeks (D1) and ten weeks (D2) after the application of prebiotics. Plant growth parameters and soil characteristics were measured, focusing on soil organic matter, soil bacterial and fungal communities, and plant root mycorrhization. Regarding physicochemical parameters, both prebiotic treatments increased soil electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity, and soluble phosphorus (P) while decreasing nitrates. Meanwhile, the SPN treatment was distinct in elevating specific cationic minerals, such as calcium (Ca) and boron (B), at D2. At the microbial level, each prebiotic induced a unique shift in the indigenous bacterial and fungal communities’ abundance and diversity, evident at D2. Simultaneously, specific microbial taxa were recruited by each prebiotic treatment, such as Caulobacter, Sphingobium, and Massilia from bacteria and Mortierella globalpina and Schizothecium carpinicola from fungi in SPK as well as Chitinophaga, Neobacillus, and Rhizomicrobium from bacteria and Sordariomycetes and Mortierella minutissima from fungi in SPN. These biomarkers were identified as (a) saprotrophs, (b) plant growth-promoting bacteria and fungi, (c) endohyphal bacteria, and (d) endophytic and symbiotic microbiota. This result was reflected in the increase in glomalin content and mycorrhization rate in the treated soils, especially by SPN. We observed that these effects led to an increase in plant biomass (shoots by 19% and 22.8% and roots by 47.8% and 35.7% dry weights for SPK and SPN, respectively) and contributed to an increase in soil C content (organic C by 8.4% and total C by 8.9%), particularly with SPN treatment. In light of these findings, the use of prebiotics ten weeks after application not only increased plant growth by improving soil characteristics and shaping its native microbial community but also demonstrated the potential to enhance C sequestration.

土壤肥力和生产力受到开发和退化过程的严重影响。这些威胁，加上人口增长和气候变化，迫使我们寻找创新的农业生态解决方案。益生元是一种土壤生物刺激剂，用于改善土壤条件和植物生长，并可能在碳 (C) 固存中发挥作用。与未经处理的土壤或对照 (SP) 相比，评估了两种商业益生元 K1® 和 NUTRIGEO L®（分别称为 SPK 和 SPN）对玉米种植的农业土壤的影响。在两个收获日期进行分析：施用益生元后三周（D1）和十周（D2）。测量植物生长参数和土壤特征，重点关注土壤有机质、土壤细菌和真菌群落以及植物根菌根化。关于理化参数，两种益生元处理都增加了土壤电导率、阳离子交换能力和可溶性磷 (P)，同时降低了硝酸盐。同时，SPN 处理在 D2 时明显提高了特定阳离子矿物质，例如钙 (Ca) 和硼 (B)。在微生物水平上，每种益生元都会诱导本地细菌和真菌群落的丰度和多样性发生独特的变化，这在 D2 中很明显。同时，每种益生元处理都招募了特定的微生物类群，例如来自细菌的柄杆菌、鞘氨醇和马西利亚，以及来自真菌的 SPK 中的被孢霉和裂腹菌，以及来自细菌的几丁质菌、新芽孢杆菌和根微生物，以及来自真菌的Sordariomycetes和Minutissima 。在 SPN 中。这些生物标志物被鉴定为（a）腐生菌、（b）促进植物生长的细菌和真菌、（c）内生菌和（d）内生和共生微生物群。这一结果反映在经处理的土壤中球囊霉素含量和菌根化率的增加，尤其是通过 SPN 处理的土壤中。我们观察到，这些影响导致植物生物量增加（SPK 和 SPN 的芽干重分别增加 19% 和 22.8%，根干重分别增加 47.8% 和 35.7%），并导致土壤碳含量增加（有机碳8.4% 和总 C 8.9%），尤其是 SPN 处理时。根据这些发现，在施用十周后使用益生元不仅可以通过改善土壤特性和塑造其原生微生物群落来促进植物生长，而且还证明了增强碳固存的潜力。