Aggregational differentiation of ureolytic microbes in an Ultisol under long-term organic and chemical fertilizations

Li Wang; Xiang Xiong; Xuesong Luo; Wenli Chen; Shilin Wen; Boren Wang; Chengrong Chen; Qiaoyun Huang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137103

Aggregational differentiation of ureolytic microbes in an Ultisol under long-term organic and chemical fertilizations

Sci Total Environ. 2020 May 10:716:137103. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137103. Epub 2020 Feb 3.

Authors

Li Wang¹, Xiang Xiong², Xuesong Luo³, Wenli Chen², Shilin Wen⁴, Boren Wang⁴, Chengrong Chen⁵, Qiaoyun Huang⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; China-Australia Research Laboratory on Environmental Biogeochemistry, Huazhong Agricultural University, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; China-Australia Research Laboratory on Environmental Biogeochemistry, Huazhong Agricultural University, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
⁴ Qiyang Red Soil Experimental Station, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qiyang 421001, China.
⁵ China-Australia Research Laboratory on Environmental Biogeochemistry, Huazhong Agricultural University, China; School of Environment and Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Qld 4111, Australia.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; China-Australia Research Laboratory on Environmental Biogeochemistry, Huazhong Agricultural University, China. Electronic address: qyhuang@mail.hzau.edu.cn.

PMID: 32045764
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137103

Abstract

Ureolytic microorganisms play a crucial role in soil nitrogen transformation. Soil aggregates and associated microbes are reported to modify the impact of agricultural management on soil nutrient cycling. However, the responses of ureolytic microbial communities in various soil aggregates to long-term fertilization regimes are still unclear in acid soils. In this study, we characterized the ureolytic microflora as well as urease activity in three soil aggregate fractions (2-0.25, 0.25-0.053, <0.053 mm) from an Ultisol with 26-year fertilization experiment. The results showed that long-term chemical fertilization (NPK) significantly decreased the abundance, richness and activity of ureolytic microbial community across soil aggregates (P < .05) due to strong soil acidification. While manure application (M and MNPK) could mitigate these negative impacts and markedly (P < .05) improved the abundance, α-diversity and activity of soil ureolytic microflora. Long-term fertilization regimes also drove the differentiation of ureolytic microbial compositions in soil aggregates (Adonis, F = 17.4, P = .001, R² = 33.6%), and manure application appeared to be the most important driver. This variation partly contributed to the aberrance of soil urease activity (structure equation model, path coefficient: 0.45, P = .008). No significant differences were found for ureolytic microbial community among soil aggregates, which was in accordance with the distribution patterns of soil nutrients, indicating the dominant role of resources availability in determining ureolytic microbiota in micro-environment. The ureolytic microbial community among different soil aggregates responded uniformly to long-term fertilizations. Our study revealed that manure application was a sustainable fertilization regime to alleviate the loss of soil ureolytic microbial diversity and activity in acid soils.

Keywords: Fertilization; Soil aggregates; Ultisol; Urease; Ureolytic microbiota.

MeSH terms

Fertilizers*
Manure
Nitrogen
Soil
Soil Microbiology*

Substances

Fertilizers
Manure
Soil
Nitrogen