4.6 Article

Changes in bacterial community structure and carbon metabolism in sandy soil under the long-term application of chitin-rich organic material and attapulgite

Journal

APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
Volume 194, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.apsoil.2023.105161

Keywords

Sandy soil; Chitin-rich organic material; Attapulgite amendment; Soil microbial community; Microbial carbon metabolism; Metagenomics

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The continuous expansion of sandy soil poses a threat to crop security. The use of chitin-rich organic material and attapulgite as soil amendments can improve degraded soil by increasing nutrient content and enzyme activity and altering bacterial community structure. This study provides insights into the link between soil properties, bacterial community structure, and microbial carbon metabolism function.
Continuous expansion of sandy soil deeply threatens crop security and has become one of the main challenges facing modern society. Chitin-rich organic material and attapulgite have been considered efficient materials to improve degraded soil based on their rich nutrient contents and unique structures. However, their potential effects on microbial community and functions in sandy soil are poorly understood. Therefore, we conducted a 4year field experiment featuring amendment with chitin-rich organic material and attapulgite and investigated the effect of amendments on microbial community diversity, structure and function using amplicons (16S and ITS) and metagenomic sequencing. The four treatments were as follows: (1) CK: no soil amendment; (2) SA: CK + attapulgite amendment; (3) SC: CK + chitin-rich organic material; and (4) SCA: CK + chitin-rich organic material + attapulgite amendment. The results indicated that the concentrations of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen, available phosphate (AP), available potassium, and enzyme activities increased while pH decreased in the treatments with chitin-rich organic material application (SC and SCA). Microorganisms have different responses to different soil amendments. Bacteria are the main components of microorganisms and their community structure was altered under chitin-rich organic material treatments (SC and SCA). Furthermore, 14 OTUs belonging to five phyla (Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadota, and Patescibacteria) related to the decomposition of organic matter were enriched in SC, while 22 OTUs belonging to six phyla (Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadota, Patescibacteria, and Cyanobacteria) were enriched significantly in SCA, suggesting that the combination of the two amendments had the potential to further alter the bacterial community compared with a single amendment. The metagenomic analysis revealed a decrease in the relative abundance of genes involved in carbon metabolism in SCA, with soil pH, AP, enzyme activity, SOC, and bacterial community structure identified as primary influencing factors. In conclusion, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the effects of chitin-rich organic material and attapulgite on microorganisms in sandy soil and found a robust link between soil properties, bacterial community structure, and microbial carbon metabolism function.

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