[Carbon Metabolism Characteristics of the Karst Soil Microbial Community for Pb-Zn Mine Tailings].

BIOLOG and 18S rRNA PCR-DGGE methods were used to estimate the characteristics of carbon source metabolism of the soil microbial community as well as the relationship between soil fungi and soil organic carbon in different karst land use types (corn field, citrus field, and paddy field) contaminated by Pb-Zn tailings at Sidi Village, Yangshuo, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, SW China. It was found that the concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd were highest in the paddy field, followed by the corn field, citrus field, and control group (dry field). In addition, the geo-accumulation index indicated that the heavy metal pollution at this area was caused by Pb and Cd and that Cd was the key environmental risk factor. With the Pb-Zn tailings, there was low microbial biomass carbon, biological entropy, and microbial carbon source metabolism in the soil samples. The highest soil organic carbon and heavy metal concentrations were found in the paddy field, followed by the corn field and citrus field. According to the DDGE results, it was found that Pycnoporus sp. ZW02.30 was found in control group soils, Fusarium solani and Fusarium oxysporum were found in the corn field and citrus field, and Penicillium decumbens was found in citrus field. These were involved in the degradation of sugars, such as starch, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. However, the fungi were not found in the paddy field. Based on the low functional diversity of the soil microbial community and biological entropy as well as the high soil organic carbon concentration in the paddy field, it was concluded that soil microbial carbohydrate metabolism and the mineralization rate of the soil organic carbon was controlled by soil microorganisms, especially fungi, in different land use soils in the karst area contaminated by Pb-Zn tailings.

[Structure Analysis of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal in Roots from Different Shrubs in Karst Regions].

To explore if there are species-preferential characteristics of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and host plants in karst regions, 13 shrub plants (including leguminosae and non-leguminosae) were selected to study the AM community structure of root samples. The soil nutrients in rhizosphere soils significantly differ among shrubs; they are higher in leguminosae than in non-leguminosae. Cluster analysis shows that all 13 shrubs can be infected by AM. Significant differences of the AM community structure were observed among root samples from different shrubs, especially leguminosae and non-leguminosae. Redundancy analysis shows that soil Olsen-P, pH, and total nitrogen significantly influence the AM community structure of plant roots, although the factors affecting this fungus in leguminosae and non-leguminosae differ. These results indicate species-preferential characteristics of AM and host plants in karst regions, especially of the plant function group compared with plant species, suggesting that these characteristics should be taken into account when AM fungi are used for vegetation restoration in karst regions.

[Relationship Between the Bacterial Abundance and Production with Environmental Factors in a Subtropical Karst Reservoir].

In recent years, the increasing scarcity of water resources and eutrophication of water have become more serious. Reservoirs that are far from big cities have become important sources of drinking water and were targets of research and protection. Therefore, the abundance and production of bacteria and their correlations with environmental factors were investigated in the Dalongdong Reservoir, Shanglin County, Guangxi Province, using Quantitative Real-time PCR technology and the 14C tracer technique. The Dalongdong Reservoir is a typical subtropical karst reservoir. The bacterial abundance of the surface water decreased from the upstream to the downstream along the water flow direction and then increases. The vertical distribution of the bacterial abundance at each sampling site shows a similar trend; it is the highest in the surface water and the lowest on the bottom. The correlation analysis results show that the temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), chlorophyll-a, dissolved oxygen (DO), and other environmental factors significantly correlate with the bacterial abundance, indicating that these parameters are the main factors limiting the bacterial abundance in this region. The bacterial production is positively correlated with the pH, DOC, and permanganate index; negatively correlated with the conductivity and DIC; and significantly positively correlated with DO. The principal component analyses (PCA) shows that the environmental factors affecting the bacterial abundance and bacterial production can be grouped into two PCAs. PCA1 includes the temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, DIC, DO, chlorophyll-a, DOC, and permanganate index and PCA2 includes TN and TP. The bacterial abundance and production in the Dalongdong Reservoir are affected by various environmental factors and photosynthetic bacteria are the important contributors to the production of organic carbon.

[Various effects on the Abundance and Composition of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in Soils in Karst Shrub Ecosystems].

Slope position is a key factor used in the restoration of vegetation in degraded karst ecosystems, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play an important role in improving this plant growth. However, little information is available regarding the effects of slope position on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. To test whether these fungal communities are impacted by slope position, the abundance, and composition of soil, AMF communities along the slope position were analyzed through terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and real-time fluorescence-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR). The diversity, richness, and evenness of plant species were evaluated through field surveys and soil properties were also measured. The results show that content of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the soil are different along the slope, and the trends identified were that the upper slope position ≈ middle slope position > lower slope position. The trend for AMF abundance was identified as upper slope position ≈ middle slope position < lower slope position. The available phosphorus content in the soil correlated significantly with the AMF abundance. A redundancy analysis showed that the structure of soil, AMF, and plant community compositions differed along the slope. The plant evenness index was shown to significantly contribute to the distribution of the AMF community structure, while the total nitrogen and total organic carbon content of the soil had a significant effect on the plant community structure. These results indicate that the interaction effects of soil nutrients and plant community structures on the soil AMF community structures suggest micro-morphology should be taken into account when AMF is used to restore vegetation in karst regions.

[Effects of Lithology on the Abundance and Composition of Soil Nitrogen-fixing Bacteria and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in Karst Shrub Ecosystem].

Lithology is a key factor when used to restore vegetation in karst degraded ecosystems, and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and nitrogen-fixing bacteria play an important role in improving plant growth. However, little information is available regarding the effects of lithology on these two groups of microorganisms. To test whether these microbial communities are impacted by lithology, the abundance and composition of soil AM fungal and nitrogen-fixing bacteria communities were determined through terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR (real-time PCR). Three types of lithology (dolomite, limestone and dolomite-limestone) were selected in this study. The diversity, richness, and evenness of plant species were evaluated through field surveys and soil properties were measured. The results showed that the abundances of soil nitrogen-fixing bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities were significantly influenced by lithology. The abundances of these two groups of microorganisms were the lowest in dolomite soil, inferior to dolomite-limestone soil, while highest in limestone soil. Similarly, the composition of soil nitrogen-fixing bacteria and AM fungi communities varied among lithology. A significant linear correlation was observed among soil organic carbon, available phosphorus, clay content and nitrogen-fixing bacterial abundance (P<0.05), and a significant linear correlation among total nitrogen, clay content and AM fungal abundance (P<0.05). Redundancy analysis showed that the composition of nitrogen-fixing bacterial community was closely linked to plant evenness, and the AM fungal community composition was closely linked to plant diversity (plant evenness, Shannon-wiener and richness). These results indicated that lithology influenced the abundances and compositions of soil nitrogen-fixing bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities mainly through plant and soil properties.

[Effects of Bisphenol A on Characteristics of Paddy Soil Microbial Community Under Different Cultural Conditions].

Bisphenol A (BPA) is widely known as a typical synthetic environmental hormone. Effects of BPA concentrations and aerations on soil microbial communities were rarely reported. This paper presented the studies on effects of various concentrations of BPA (0, 0.25 mg·kg-1, 0.50 mg·kg-1, 1.00 mg·kg-1, 2.00 mg·kg-1) and soil aertaiton (aerobic and anaerobic) on characteristics of paddy soil microbial communites by technology of qPCR (fluorescence quantitative PCR) and PCR-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). The results lined out that: ① the microbial abundance index was significantly different among different BPA concentrations under the same condition of soil aeration (anaerobic or aerobic). However, the index of microbial evenness, Shannon-Wiener-diversity and evenness-indices were insignificantly different under these conditions. At a concentration of 0.50 mg·kg-1, the microbial abundance index reached a maximum value under anaerobic conditions; while under aerobic conditions the opposite result was found, the microbial abundance index dropped to a minimum value. ② The two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that: the concentration of BPA, soil aeration and their interaction significantly affected the abundance of bacteria, whereas the abundance of fungi was only affected by soil aeration. The study results showed that: the abundance index was a sensitive indicator for the variation of soil microbial diversity; it was a critical value for the change of soil microbial abundance when the BPA concentration was 0.50 mg·kg-1; as for the abundance of fungi, the response of bacteria abundance was more sensitive to BPA and soil aeration conditions.

Land reclamation and short-term cultivation change soil microbial communities and bacterial metabolic profiles.

BACKGROUND: Soil microbes play an important role in many critical ecosystem processes, but little is known about the effects of land reclamation and short-term cultivation on microbial communities in red soil. In this study, soil microbial communities under five land use patterns-artificial pine forest (Fp), tussock and shrub (TS), shrubbery (Sh), sugarcane (Su) and maize and cassava rotation (Ma)-were characterised by DNA fingerprinting and metabolic profiling to reveal how land reclamation and cultivation affect the underlying diversity and function of soil microbial communities in southwestern China. RESULTS: Eight years of reclamation and cultivation significantly affected population size, composition and structure, bacterial metabolic profiles and diversity values (Shannon-Wiener index) of soil microbial communities. Soil organic carbon and pH were the most important factors shaping the underlying microbial communities; however, with significant correlations between soil carbon/nitrogen ratio and bacterial taxonomic and metabolic diversities, soil total nitrogen was a potentially important factor for soil microbial composition and function, as well as soil moisture, cation exchange capacity and physical structure to a lesser extent. In addition, the lowest pH, lower nutrient availability and the most compact soil in pine forest resulted in the lowest microbial taxonomic and metabolic diversities among the five land use patterns studied. CONCLUSION: Soil organic carbon, nitrogen and pH appeared to be the most important factors influencing microbial biomass, composition and function in red soil of southwestern China. The study suggests that measures to lessen the impact of changes in this edaphic environment should be taken to avoid an imbalance of microbial function and improve ecological sustainability in southwestern China.

[Basidiomycetous laccase gene diversity in two subtropical forest soils].

As one of the key enzymes involved in lignin decomposition of forest litter, laccase plays an important role in the carbon cycling in forest ecosystem. By using TA cloning and sequencing, a comparative study was conducted on the basidiomycetous laccase gene diversity in the O horizon (litter layer) and A horizon (surface soil layer, 0-20 cm) in two subtropical forests (a primeval evergreen deciduous broadleaved mixed forest and an artificial masson pine forest). For the same soil horizons, the basidiomycetous laccase gene diversity and richness were higher in the primeval forest than in the masson pine forest; for the same forest ecosystems, the basidiomycetous laccase gene diversity and richness in the primeval forest were slightly higher in O horizon than in A horizon, but those in the masson pine forest were apparently lower in O horizon than in A horizon. The two forest soils had the same dominant laccase gene-containing basidiomycetous populations, and most of the populations had high similarity of amino acid sequence to Mycena sp. or Pleurotus sp. belonging to Agaricales. Comparing with the A horizon in primeval forest and the O horizon in masson pine forest, the O horizon in primeval forest and the A horizon in masson pine forest had a relatively uniform distribution of basidiomycetous populations. The nucleotide sequence similarity of basidiomycetous laccase gene between the O and A horizons in the masson pine forest was higher than that in the primeval forest. This study showed that vegetation and soil horizon had significant effects on the basidiomycetous laccase gene diversity and community structure, and the discrepancies in the substrate availability for basidiomycetes and in the soil pH induced by the vegetation and soil horizon could be the driving forces.

[Soil microbial diversity in typical Karst peak-cluster depression under effects of different de-farming patterns].

By using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and Biolog_Eco micro-plate technique, this paper studied the soil microbial genetic taxonomic and bacterial metabolic functional diversities under four de-farming patterns, i. e., natural restoration (NT, dominant plant species Neyraudia reynaudiana and Miscanthus floridulus), economic plantation (CM, Cajanus cajan and Castanea mollissima), zero-tillage (PI, Pennisetum purpureum and Zenia insign), and conventional tillage (MB, maize-soybean intercropping), in a typical Karst peak-cluster depression. All test de-farming patterns had significant effects on the soil microbial community structure and bacterial metabolic pattern. The community structure of soil fungi was more affected by the de-farming patterns than that of soil bacteria, while the later was more affected by seasonal variation. After 6-7 years of de-farming, soil bacterial taxonomic Shannon diversity indices had no significant differences under the four de-farming patterns, while soil fungal taxonomic Shannon diversity indices were significantly higher under CM and PI than under NT and MB. The soil bacterial metabolic functional diversity under PI was obviously lower than those under other de-farming patterns. Therefore, soil fungal genetic and bacterial metabolic diversities were more sensitive to de-farming patterns than soil bacterial genetic diversity did. Among the four de-farming patterns, economic plantation had the superiority in maintaining soil microbial genetic and bacterial metabolic functional diversities, being a better de-farming pattern.