Long-term effects of maize straw return and manure on the microbial community in cinnamon soil in Northern China using 16S rRNA sequencing

• Published in: PloS one 2021-04, Vol.16 (4), p.e0249884-e0249884
• Main Authors: Liu, Zhiping, Zhou, Huaiping, Xie, Wenyan, Yang, Zhenxing, Lv, Qianqian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacteria; Bioengineering; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomass; Carbon; Carbon sequestration; Cattle; Cellulose; Community composition; Community structure; Corn; Corn straw; Earth Sciences; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Energy conversion; Energy transformation; Environmental aspects; Environments; Fertilizers; Genetic aspects; Hemicellulose; Long-term effects; Manures; Microbiomes; Microorganisms; Moisture content; Nutrient cycles; Nutrients; Organic carbon; Organic matter; Organic phosphorus; Organic soils; Phosphorus; Potassium; Research and Analysis Methods; rRNA 16S; Soil chemistry; Soil conservation; Soil fertility; Soil microbiology; Soil microorganisms; Soil moisture; Soil moisture content; Soil nutrients; Soil organic matter; Soil pH; Soil structure; Soil water; Straw; Taxonomy; Water conservation; Water content
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249884

Excessive use of chemical fertilizers in agricultural practices have demonstrated a significant impact on microbial diversity and community in soil by altering soil physical and chemical properties, thereby leading to a certain degree of soil salinization and nutritional imbalances. As an organic amendment, maize straw has been widely used to improve soil quality; however, its effect on the soil bacterial community remains limited in Calcarie-Fluvie Cambisols soil in semi-humid arid plateau of North China. In the present experiment, we investigated the effects of continuous straw utilization and fertilization on bacterial communities in Shouyang, Shanxi province, China. Soil samples were collected from 5 different straw utilization and fertilization modes in the following ways: straw mulching (SM), straw crushing (SC), cattle manure (CM), in which way straw is firstly used as silage and then organic fertilizer, control with no straw return (NSR), and control without fertilizers (CK), same amount of N+P fertilizer was applied to the regimes except CK. High-throughput sequencing approaches were applied to the V3-V4 regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA for analysis of the bacterial abundance and community structures. Different long-term straw returning regimes significantly altered the physicochemical properties and bacterial communities of soil, among which CM had the most significant effects on soil fertility and bacterial diversity. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, and Gemmatimonadetes were consistently dominant in all soil samples, and Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed significant association of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and available potassium (AK) with alternation of the bacterial community. Cattle manure had the most beneficial effects on soil fertility and bacterial diversity among different straw utilization and fertilization modes.