Microbial communities and functions changed in rhizosphere soil of Pinus massoniana provenances with different carbon storage

Zichen Huang; Xin He; Chi Zhang; Mengyang Zhang; Jiannan Wang; Yanqing Hou; Dengbao Wang; Sheng Yao; Qiong Yu; Kongshu Ji

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1264670

Microbial communities and functions changed in rhizosphere soil of Pinus massoniana provenances with different carbon storage

Front Microbiol. 2023 Nov 3:14:1264670. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1264670. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.
² Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.

Abstract

Introduction: The average carbon storage of Pinus massoniana is much higher than the average carbon storage of Chinese forests, an important carbon sink tree species in subtropical regions of China. However, there are few studies on the differences in rhizosphere microorganisms of P. massoniana with different carbon storages.

Methods: To clarify the relationships between plant carbon storage level, environmental parameters and microbial community structure, we identified three carbon storage levels from different P. massoniana provenances and collected rhizosphere soil samples. We determined chemical properties of soil, extracellular enzyme activity, and microbial community structures at different carbon storage levels and examined how soil factors affect rhizosphere microorganisms under different carbon storage levels.

Results: The results revealed that soil organic carbon (SOC), nitrate nitrogen (NO₃^--N), ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) contents all increased with increasing carbon storage levels, while pH decreased accordingly. In contrast, the available phosphorus (AP) content did not change significantly. The soil AP content was within the range of 0.91 ~ 1.04 mg/kg. The microbial community structure of P. massoniana changed with different carbon storage, with Acidobacteria (44.27%), Proteobacteria (32.57%), and Actinobacteria (13.43%) being the dominant bacterial phyla and Basidiomycota (73.36%) and Ascomycota (24.64%) being the dominant fungal phyla across the three carbon storage levels. Soil fungi were more responsive to carbon storage than bacteria in P. massoniana. C/N, NH₄⁺-N, NO₃^--N, and SOC were the main drivers (p < 0.05) of changes in rhizosphere microbial communities.

Discussion: The results revealed that in the rhizosphere there were significant differences in soil carbon cycle and microorganism nutrient preferences at different carbon storages of P. massoniana provenance, which were significantly related to the changes in rhizosphere microbial community structure. Jiangxi Anyuan (AY) provenance is more suitable for the construction of high carbon storage plantation.

Keywords: Pinus massoniana; carbon storage; microbiome; provenance; structural responses.

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 National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFD2200202) and the project was funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).