Soil pH is the primary factor driving the distribution and function of microorganisms in farmland soils in northeastern China

• Published in: Annals of microbiology Vol. 69; no. 13; pp. 1461 - 1473
• Main Authors: Wang, Cheng-yu, Zhou, Xue, Guo, Dan, Zhao, Jiang-hua, Yan, Li, Feng, Guo-zhong, Gao, Qiang, Yu, Han, Zhao, Lan-po
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2019; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abundance; Acidobacteria; Actinobacteria; Agricultural land; agricultural soils; Applied Microbiology; Bacteria; bacterial communities; Biological diversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Carbon content; China; Chloroflexi; Community structure; ecological function; Environmental factors; Gemmatimonadetes; geographical distribution; Hydrogen-ion concentration; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Microbial Ecology; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Microbiology; Mycology; Nitrifying bacteria; nutrients; Organic soils; Original Article; pH effects; Proteobacteria; ribosomal RNA; RNA; rRNA 16S; sequence analysis; Soil acidity; soil bacteria; Soil microbiology; Soil microorganisms; Soil nutrients; soil organic carbon; Soil pH; Soils; species diversity; China; Bacterial biogeographic distribution; Agricultural soil; Bacterial diversity; Driving factor; Soil bacterial community
• ISSN: 1590-4261; 1869-2044
• DOI: 10.1007/s13213-019-01529-9

Purpose To understand which environmental factors influence the distribution and ecological functions of bacteria in agricultural soil. Method A broad range of farmland soils was sampled from 206 locations in Jilin province, China. We used 16S rRNA gene-based Illumina HiSeq sequencing to estimated soil bacterial community structure and functions. Result The dominant taxa in terms of abundance were found to be, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Chloroflexi, and Proteobacteria. Bacterial communities were dominantly affected by soil pH, whereas soil organic carbon did not have a significant influence on bacterial communities. Soil pH was significantly positively correlated with bacterial operational taxonomic unit abundance and soil bacterial α-diversity (P<0.05) spatially rather than with soil nutrients. Bacterial functions were estimated using FAPROTAX, and the relative abundance of anaerobic and aerobic chemoheterotrophs, and nitrifying bacteria was 27.66%, 26.14%, and 6.87%, respectively, of the total bacterial community. Generally, the results indicate that soil pH is more important than nutrients in shaping bacterial communities in agricultural soils, including their ecological functions and biogeographic distribution.