Enhancing plant growth in biofertilizer-amended soil through nitrogen-transforming microbial communities

Liangzhi Li; Zhengrong Hu; Ge Tan; Jianqiang Fan; Yiqiang Chen; Yansong Xiao; Shaolong Wu; Qiqi Zhi; Tianbo Liu; Huaqun Yin; Qianjun Tang

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1259853

Enhancing plant growth in biofertilizer-amended soil through nitrogen-transforming microbial communities

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Nov 14:14:1259853. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1259853. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Liangzhi Li^{1

2

3}, Zhengrong Hu⁴, Ge Tan⁵, Jianqiang Fan⁶, Yiqiang Chen⁶, Yansong Xiao⁷, Shaolong Wu⁴, Qiqi Zhi^{2

3}, Tianbo Liu⁴, Huaqun Yin^{2

3}, Qianjun Tang¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China.
² School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁴ Hunan Tobacco Research Institute, Changsha, China.
⁵ China Tobacco Hunan Industrial Co., Ltd., Changsha, China.
⁶ Technology Center, China Tobacco Fujian Industrial Co., Ltd., Xiamen, Fujian, China.
⁷ Chenzhou Tobacco Company of Hunan Province, Chenzhou, China.

Abstract

Biofertilizers have immense potential for enhancing agricultural productivity. However, there is still a need for clarification regarding the specific mechanisms through which these biofertilizers improve soil properties and stimulate plant growth. In this research, a bacterial agent was utilized to enhance plant growth and investigate the microbial modulation mechanism of soil nutrient turnover using metagenomic technology. The results demonstrated a significant increase in soil fast-acting nitrogen (by 46.7%) and fast-acting phosphorus (by 88.6%) upon application of the bacterial agent. This finding suggests that stimulated soil microbes contribute to enhanced nutrient transformation, ultimately leading to improved plant growth. Furthermore, the application of the bacterial agent had a notable impact on the accumulation of key genes involved in nitrogen cycling. Notably, it enhanced nitrification genes (amo, hao, and nar), while denitrification genes (nir and nor) showed a slight decrease. This indicates that ammonium oxidation may be the primary pathway for increasing fast-acting nitrogen in soils. Additionally, the bacterial agent influenced the composition and functional structure of the soil microbial community. Moreover, the metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) obtained from the soil microbial communities exhibited complementary metabolic processes, suggesting mutual nutrient exchange. These MAGs contained widely distributed and highly abundant genes encoding plant growth promotion (PGP) traits. These findings emphasize how soil microbial communities can enhance vegetation growth by increasing nutrient availability and regulating plant hormone production. This effect can be further enhanced by introducing inoculated microbial agents. In conclusion, this study provides novel insights into the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of biofertilizers on soil properties and plant growth. The significant increase in nutrient availability, modulation of key genes involved in nitrogen cycling, and the presence of MAGs encoding PGP traits highlight the potential of biofertilizers to improve agricultural practices. These findings have important implications for enhancing agricultural sustainability and productivity, with positive societal and environmental impacts.

Keywords: binning; biofertilizer; keystone taxa; metagenomics; microbial interaction; soil.

Associated data

figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.23544930.v2

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was supported by the key Research project of Hunan Province (2023NK2019), the key project of Science and Technology Project of China National Tobacco Corporation (110202101027 [LS-11] and 110202201019 [LS-03]) and the key project of Science and Technology of Hunan Branch of China National Tobacco Corporation (2021kjc-yc040, HN2021KJ05, CZYC2022JS04, 2022431021240240, 20-22A02). This research was also supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Hunan Province (grants no. 2020WK2022, 2022SK2076, 2023JJ30658), the National key research and development program by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (grants no.2023YFC2907800). The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.