[Effects of mulberry/soybean intercropping on the plant growth and rhizosphere soil microbial number and enzyme activities].

A root separation experiment was conducted to investigate the plant growth and rhizosphere soil microbes and enzyme activities in a mulberry/soybean intercropping system. As compared with those in plastic barrier and nylon mesh barrier treatments, the plant height, leaf number, root length, root nodule number, and root/shoot ratio of mulberry and soybean in non-barrier treatment were significantly higher, and the soybean's effective nodule number was larger. The available phosphorous content in the rhizosphere soils of mulberry and soybean in no barrier and nylon mesh barrier treatments was increased by 10.3% and 11.1%, and 5.1% and 4.6%, respectively, as compared with that in plastic barrier treatment. The microbial number, microbial diversity, and enzyme activities in the rhizosphere soils of mulberry and soybean were higher in the treatments of no barrier and nylon mesh barrier than in the treatment of plastic barrier. All the results indicated that there was an obvious interspecific synergistic effect between mulberry and soybean in the mulberry/soybean intercropping system.

[Effects of Festuca arundinacea on the microbial community in crude oil-contaminated saline-alkaline soil].

By using the routine soil physical and chemical analysis methods and the Biolog technique, this paper studied the effects of Festuca arundinacea growth on the pH value, total salt content, and microbial community in the rhizosphere of crude dil-contaminated saline-alkaline soil in Songnen Plain of Northeast China. Crude oil contamination resulted in the increases of average well color development (AWCD), Shannon index (H), and carbon source utilization richness index (S), and altered the utilization patterns of carbon sources by the microbes. F. arundinacea had greater potential to remediate crude oil-contaminated soil. This plant could decrease the soil pH and soil total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) content, and increase the soil water content. The AWCD and S in F. arundinacea rhizosphere soil were obviously higher than those in the soil of naked land, providing a suitable environment for the growth and development of rhizosphere soil microbes.