Combined contribution of biochar and introduced AM fungi on lead stability and microbial community in polluted agricultural soil

Xuedong Chen; Lin Tang; Kongyang Wu; Yifan Mo; Qian Tang; Gaojie Li; Ying Zhu

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1284321

Combined contribution of biochar and introduced AM fungi on lead stability and microbial community in polluted agricultural soil

Front Microbiol. 2023 Nov 15:14:1284321. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1284321. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xuedong Chen¹, Lin Tang¹, Kongyang Wu¹, Yifan Mo¹, Qian Tang¹, Gaojie Li², Ying Zhu¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Life Science, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang, Henan, China.
² School of Physics and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Lead (Pb) pollution in agricultural soil has been accelerated by industrial development and human activities, and poses a major threat to agricultural ecosystems. Both biochar and arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungi are considered to play an important role in remediation of Pb contaminated soil.

Methods: The combined remediation effects of introduced AM fungi and biochar on soil properties, Pb availability, microbial community and functional profiles were systematically investigated in unsterilized Pb-polluted agricultural soil.

Results: Results indicated that soil nutrients were significantly improved through the combined application of biochar and introduced AM fungi. The introduced AM fungi combined with biochar prepared at 400°C and 500°C promoted the transformation of Pb to a more stable state with low bioavailability. Moreover, the addition of AM fungi and biochar affected the relative abundances of dominant bacteria and fungi at the phylum and genus levels. Biochar mainly affected soil bacterial community and obviously increased the relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Blastococcus. The interactions between biochar and introduced AM fungi mainly affected fungal community, and increased the abundance of Ascomycota and Botryotrichum. Further, PICRUSt analysis indicated biochar amendment supported stronger bacterial metabolic functional potentials.

Discussion: Therefore, the combined application of biochar and Therefore, the combined application of biochar and introduced AM fungi could improve soil nutrients, reduce Pb introduced AM fungi could improve soil nutrients, reduce Pb availability, availability, and show and show a positive effect on a positive effect on indigenous microbial communities and indigenous microbial communities and metabolic functions in metabolic functions in farmland soil.

Keywords: Pb pollution; arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi; biochar; farmland soil; microbial community.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62004063), Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (232300420446), Foundation of He’nan Educational Committee (20A180018 and 22B210006), National Program Cultivation Fund of Luoyang Normal University (2019-PYJJ-008), and National College Students’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program Funding Project (202310482005).