The Composition and Diversity of Soil Bacterial and Fungal Communities Along an Urban-To-Rural Gradient in South China

Soil microbes are of great significance to driving the biogeochemical cycles and are affected by multiple factors, including urbanization. However, the response of soil microbes to urbanization remains unclear. Therefore, we designed an urban-to-rural gradient experiment to investigate the response of soil microbial composition and diversity to urbanization. Here, we used a high-throughput sequencing method to analyze the biotic and abiotic effects on soil microbial composition and diversity along the urban-to-rural gradient. Our results showed that soil bacterial diversity was the highest in urban areas, followed by suburban areas, and was the lowest in exurbs; however, fungal diversity did not vary significantly among the three areas. Plant traits, i.e., tree richness, shrub richness, the number of tree stems, diameter at breast height of trees, and soil properties, i.e., pH, soil organic carbon, soil exchangeable calcium and magnesium, and soil water content, were only significantly influenced bacterial diversity, but not fungal diversity. The effect of trees and shrubs was higher than that of herbs on microbial composition. Soil organic carbon, pH, soil available nitrogen, soil exchangeable calcium, and magnesium were the major soil factors influencing the soil bacterial and fungal composition. Soil properties had a greater influence on bacterial than on fungal composition at genus level, while plant traits contributed more to fungal than to bacterial composition at genus level. Our study suggests that the urban-to-rural gradient affect the composition and diversity of bacterial community as well as the fungal composition, but not the fungal diversity.

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Soil organic carbon recovery in tropical tree plantations may depend on restoration of soil microbial composition and function

Geoderma ◽

10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.06.017 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 353 ◽

pp. 70-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mark T.L. Bonner ◽

John Herbohn ◽

Nestor Gregorio ◽

Arturo Pasa ◽

Mayet S. Avela ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Tropical Tree ◽

Tree Plantations ◽

Microbial Composition ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Carbon Recovery ◽

And Function ◽

Tropical Tree Plantations ◽

Soil Microbial Composition

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Soil organic carbon fractionation and metagenomics pipeline to link carbon content and stability with microbial composition - First results investigating fungal endophytes

10.1101/2021.12.19.473394 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Wolfram Buss ◽

Raghvendra Sharma ◽

Scott Ferguson ◽

Justin O Borevitz

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Agricultural Soils ◽

Low Cost ◽

Fungal Endophytes ◽

Microbial Composition ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Long Read ◽

Soil Carbon Formation

Society needs to capture gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually and then store it long-term to limit and ultimately reverse the effects of climate change. Bringing lost carbon back into agricultural soils should be a priority as it brings the added benefit of improving soil properties. Linking soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions of different stability with soil microbial composition can help understand and subsequently manage SOC storage. Here we develop a pipeline for evaluating the effects of microbial management on SOC content using rapid and low-cost SOC fractionation and metagenomics approaches. We tested the methods in a wheat pot trial inoculated with 17 individual endophytic fungal isolates. Two fungi increased total SOC in the area under the plant stem by ~15%. The fractionation assay showed that the medium stability soil aggregate carbon fraction (AggC) was increased by one of these fungi (+21%) and the chemically recalcitrant proportion (bleach oxidation) of AggC by the other (+35%). Both fungi increased mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC), the long-term SOC storage, by ~10%. We used rapid, portable, low-cost, whole metagenome long read sequencing to detect a shift in the microbial composition for one of the fungi-inoculated treatments. This treatment showed a more diverse microbial community and a higher quantity of DNA in soil. The results emphasise the link between composition and abundance of soil microorganisms with soil carbon formation. Our dual carbon fractional and metagenomic analysis pipeline can be used to further test the effects of microbial management and ultimately to model the soil factors that influence SOC storage, such as nutrient and water availability, starting SOC content, soil texture and aggregation.

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Effects of plant functional groups and plant species on soil microbial composition in a Inner Mongolian grassland

Biodiversity Science ◽

10.3724/sp.j.1003.2012.07160 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 59-65

Author(s):

Chen Ying ◽

Li Xiaoxiao ◽

Ying Jiaoyan ◽

Liang Cunzhu ◽

Bai Yongfei

Keyword(s):

Functional Groups ◽

Plant Species ◽

Plant Functional Groups ◽

Microbial Composition ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Mongolian Grassland ◽

Soil Microbial Composition

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From the Ground Up: Prairies on Reclaimed Mine Land—Impacts on Soil and Vegetation

Land ◽

10.3390/land9110455 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 455

Author(s):

Rebecca M. Swab ◽

Nicola Lorenz ◽

Nathan R. Lee ◽

Steven W. Culman ◽

Richard P. Dick

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Plant Community ◽

Prairie Restoration ◽

Native Plant ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Prairie Restorations ◽

Mine Lands ◽

The Impact

After strip mining, soils typically suffer from compaction, low nutrient availability, loss of soil organic carbon, and a compromised soil microbial community. Prairie restorations can improve ecosystem services on former agricultural lands, but prairie restorations on mine lands are relatively under-studied. This study investigated the impact of prairie restoration on mine lands, focusing on the plant community and soil properties. In southeast Ohio, 305 ha within a ~2000 ha area of former mine land was converted to native prairie through herbicide and planting between 1999–2016. Soil and vegetation sampling occurred from 2016–2018. Plant community composition shifted with prairie age, with highest native cover in the oldest prairie areas. Prairie plants were more abundant in older prairies. The oldest prairies had significantly more soil fungal biomass and higher soil microbial biomass. However, many soil properties (e.g., soil nutrients, β-glucosoidase activity, and soil organic carbon), as well as plant species diversity and richness trended higher in prairies, but were not significantly different from baseline cool-season grasslands. Overall, restoration with prairie plant communities slowly shifted soil properties, but mining disturbance was still the most significant driver in controlling soil properties. Prairie restoration on reclaimed mine land was effective in establishing a native plant community, with the associated ecosystem benefits.

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Plant residue chemical quality modulates the soil microbial response related to decomposition and soil organic carbon and nitrogen stabilization in a rainfed Mediterranean agroecosystem

Soil Biology and Biochemistry ◽

10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108198 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 108198

Author(s):

María Almagro ◽

Antonio Ruiz-Navarro ◽

Elvira Díaz-Pereira ◽

Juan Albaladejo ◽

María Martínez-Mena

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Plant Residue ◽

Chemical Quality ◽

Carbon And Nitrogen ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Microbial Response

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Effects of Glucosinolate-Derived Isothiocyanates on Fungi: A Comprehensive Review on Direct Effects, Mechanisms, Structure-Activity Relationship Data and Possible Agricultural Applications

Journal of Fungi ◽

10.3390/jof7070539 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (7) ◽

pp. 539

Author(s):

Tamás Plaszkó ◽

Zsolt Szűcs ◽

Gábor Vasas ◽

Sándor Gonda

Keyword(s):

Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Synergistic Activity ◽

Microbial Composition ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Structure Activity ◽

Agricultural Applications ◽

Antifungal Action ◽

Insight Into ◽

Soil Microbial Composition

Plants heavily rely on chemical defense systems against a variety of stressors. The glucosinolates in the Brassicaceae and some allies are the core molecules of one of the most researched such pathways. These natural products are enzymatically converted into isothiocyanates (ITCs) and occasionally other defensive volatile organic constituents (VOCs) upon fungal challenge or tissue disruption to protect the host against the stressor. The current review provides a comprehensive insight on the effects of the isothiocyanates on fungi, including, but not limited to mycorrhizal fungi and pathogens of Brassicaceae. In the review, our current knowledge on the following topics are summarized: direct antifungal activity and the proposed mechanisms of antifungal action, QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationships), synergistic activity of ITCs with other agents, effects of ITCs on soil microbial composition and allelopathic activity. A detailed insight into the possible applications is also provided: the literature of biofumigation studies, inhibition of post-harvest pathogenesis and protection of various products including grains and fruits is also reviewed herein.

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