Soil glomalin-related protein affects aggregate N2O fluxes by modulating denitrifier communities in a fertilized soil

Shun Han; Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja; Wenli Chen; Qiaoyun Huang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163147

Soil glomalin-related protein affects aggregate N₂O fluxes by modulating denitrifier communities in a fertilized soil

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jul 1:880:163147. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163147. Epub 2023 Apr 5.

Authors

Shun Han¹, Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja², Wenli Chen³, Qiaoyun Huang⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
² Escuela Técnica Superior Ingenieros Agrónomos y Montes, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario, E-02071 Albacete, Spain.
³ State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: wlchen@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 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, China.

PMID: 37023815
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163147

Abstract

Agricultural ecosystems contribute significantly to atmospheric emissions of soil nitrous oxide (N₂O), which exacerbate environmental pollution and contribute to global warming. Glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) stabilizes soil aggregates and enhances soil carbon and nitrogen storage in agricultural ecosystems. However, the underlying mechanisms and relative importance of GRSP on N₂O fluxes within soil aggregate fraction remain largely unclear. We examined the GRSP content, denitrifying bacterial community composition, and potential N₂O fluxes across three aggregate-size fractions (2000-250 μm, 250-53 μm, and <53 μm) under a long-term fertilization agricultural ecosystem, subjected to mineral fertilizer or manure and their combination. Our findings indicated that various fertilization treatments have no discernible impact on the size distribution of soil aggregates, paving the way to further research into the impact of soil aggregates on GRSP content, the denitrifying bacterial community composition, and potential N₂O fluxes. GRSP content increased with the increase in soil aggregate size. Potential N₂O fluxes (including gross N₂O production and N₂O reduction and net N₂O production) among aggregates were highest in microaggregates (250-53 μm), followed by macroaggregates (2000-250 μm) and lowest in silt + clay (<53 μm) fractions. Potential N₂O fluxes had a positive response to soil aggregate GRSP fractions. The non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis revealed that soil aggregate size could drive the denitrifying functional microbial community composition, and deterministic processes play more critical roles than stochasticity processes in driving denitrifying functional composition under soil aggregate fractions. Procrustes analysis revealed a significant correlation between denitrifying microbial community, soil aggregate GRSP fractions, and potential N₂O fluxes. Our study suggests that soil aggregate GRSP fractions influence potential nitrous oxide fluxes by affecting denitrifying microbial functional composition within soil aggregate.

Keywords: Denitrifier; GeoChip 5.0; Glomalin-related soil protein; Potential N(2)O flux; Soil aggregate.

MeSH terms

Bacteria
Microbiota*
Nitrous Oxide / analysis
Soil Microbiology
Soil*

Substances

Soil
Nitrous Oxide
glomalin