Abstract
Background and aims: Endophytic microorganisms exist commonly in plants and are recognized to increase plant growth especially under adverse physical environmental conditions. We here demonstrate that endophytic bacteria (EB) Bacillus cereus can accelerate the decomposition of plant litter and enhance nutrient availability for plant growth.Methods: We first obtained plant litter with and without EB inoculation using a model plant Arabidopsis thaliana in a microcosmic experiment, then conducted a litter decomposition experiment to investigated the effect of EB on litter decay rate, phosphorus availability, and on soil microbial community structure. We further evaluated wheat (Triticum aestivum) biomass growth using soils treated with and without EB.Results: Inoculation of EB significantly increased the mass loss of Arabidopsis litter in the middle stage of decomposition, elevated the activity of alkaline phosphatase in the early stage of decomposition, and increased soil available P at the end of decomposition. Analyses of Illumina MiSeq sequencing and structural equation models also indicated that EB inoculation had pronounced impact on the bacterial abundance and diversity in soil. Finally, the growth of the wheat was significantly promoted in the litter with EB decomposition system. Conclusion: EB mediated host after-life effect likely through accelerating the release of nutrients such as P from decomposing plant litter and regulating the structure of soil microorganisms, promoting the sustainability of nutrient utilization efficiency in a terrestrial ecosystem.
Eutrophication modulates plant-litter diversity effects on litter decomposition in streams
