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Microorganisms
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Soil Microbial Carbon/Nitrogen/Phosphorus Cycling
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Soil Microbial Carbon/Nitrogen/Phosphorus Cycling

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2024 | Viewed by 2360

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dan Xiao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha 410125, China
Interests: nutrient cycling; vegetation recovery; microbial biodiversity; soil carbon; soil nitrogen
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Yinhang Xia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Interests: soil organic carbon; soil organic nitrogen cycling; microbial metabolic processes; agricultural ecosystems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil nutrient cycles involving microorganisms play a crucial role in enhancing soil fertility, promoting plant growth, controlling pathogens and pests, improving soil structure, and maintaining ecosystem functions. These processes are affected by environmental changes, such as global climate warming, nitrogen deposition, heavy metal pollution, waste disposal, and agricultural management practices. The role of soil microorganisms in organic matter turnover, nitrogen cycling, phosphorus transformations, and metal sequestration in natural and agricultural ecosystems is crucial for sustainable ecosystem management. This Special Issue aims to explore the functions of soil microorganisms in nutrient cycling and how they enhance the multifunctionality of ecosystems, providing fundamental and practical guidance for sustainable soil management. The potential topics include the following: 

  1. Microbial involvement in soil nutrient cycling.
  2. The diversity, community structure, and characteristics of key functional soil microorganisms and microbial food webs.
  3. Applications of soil microorganisms in vegetation restoration and agricultural production.
  4. The effects of global warming, nitrogen deposition, and agricultural management practices on soil microbial communities.
  5. Soil microorganisms in environmental remediation and soil erosion control. This Special Issue is open to fundamental, applied, and field research and review manuscripts on all aspects of these topics.

Dr. Dan Xiao
Guest Editor

Prof. Dr. Yinhang Xia
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • soil microbiome
  • nutrient cycling
  • soil micro-food web
  • land-use change
  • ecosystem restoration
  • agricultural management

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 4889 KiB  
Article
Effects of Wildfire on Soil CO2 Emission and Bacterial Community in Plantations
by Yu Yang, Xuehui Liu, Shilin Huang, Jinchen Jia, Chuangye Wang, Lening Hu, Ke Li and Hua Deng
Microorganisms 2024, 12(8), 1666; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12081666 - 13 Aug 2024
Viewed by 334
Abstract
In order to study the effects of wildfires on soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and microbial communities in planted forests, Pinus massoniana Lamb. and Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook. forests were selected as the research subjects. Through a culture test with 60 [...] Read more.
In order to study the effects of wildfires on soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and microbial communities in planted forests, Pinus massoniana Lamb. and Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook. forests were selected as the research subjects. Through a culture test with 60 days of indoor constant temperature, the soil physical and chemical properties, organic carbon mineralization, organic carbon components, enzyme activity, and microbial community structure changes of the two plantations after fire were analyzed. The results showed that wildfires significantly reduced soil CO2 emissions from the Pinus massoniana forests and Cunninghamia lanceolata forests by 270.67 mg·kg−1 and 470.40 mg·kg−1, respectively, with Cunninghamia lanceolata forests exhibiting the greatest reduction in soil CO2 emissions compared to unburned soils. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the abundance of soil Proteobacteria in the Pinus massoniana and Cunninghamia lanceolata forests decreased by 6.00% and 4.55%, respectively, after wildfires. Additionally, redundancy analysis indicated a significant positive correlation between Proteobacteria and soil CO2 emissions, suggesting that the decrease in Proteobacteria may inhibit soil CO2 emissions. The Cunninghamia lanceolata forests exhibited a significant increase in soil available nutrients and inhibition of enzyme activities after the wildfire. Additionally, soil CO2 emissions decreased more, indicating a stronger adaptive capacity to environmental changes following the wildfire. In summary, wildfire in the Cunninghamia lanceolata forests led to the most pronounced reduction in soil CO2 emissions, thereby mitigating soil carbon emissions in the region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbial Carbon/Nitrogen/Phosphorus Cycling)
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20 pages, 8912 KiB  
Article
Short-Term Effects of Cenchrus fungigraminus/Potato or Broad Bean Interplanting on Rhizosphere Soil Fertility, Microbial Diversity, and Greenhouse Gas Sequestration in Southeast China
by Jing Li, Yufang Lei, Yeyan Wen, Jieyi Zhu, Xiaoyue Di, Yi Zeng, Xiao Han, Zuhui Que, Hatungimana Mediatrice, Christopher Rensing, Zhanxi Lin and Dongmei Lin
Microorganisms 2024, 12(8), 1665; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12081665 - 13 Aug 2024
Viewed by 295
Abstract
Cenchrus fungigraminus is a new species and is largely used as forage and mushroom substrate. However, it can usually not be planted on farmland on account of local agricultural land policy. Interplanting Cenchrus fungigraminus with other crops annually (short-term) is an innovative strategy [...] Read more.
Cenchrus fungigraminus is a new species and is largely used as forage and mushroom substrate. However, it can usually not be planted on farmland on account of local agricultural land policy. Interplanting Cenchrus fungigraminus with other crops annually (short-term) is an innovative strategy to promote the sustainable development of the grass industry in southern China. To further investigate this, C. fungigraminus mono-planting (MC), C. fungigraminus–potato interplanting (CIP) and C. fungigraminus–broad bean interplanting (CIB) were performed. Compared to MC, soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC), soil organic matter (SOM), ammoniacal nitrogen (AMN), pH and soil amino sugars had a positive effect on the rhizosphere soil of CIP and CIB, as well as enhancing soil nitrogenase, nitrite reductase, and peroxidase activities (p < 0.05). Moreover, CIP improved the root vitality (2.08 times) and crude protein (1.11 times). In addition, CIB enhanced the crude fiber of C. fungigraminus seedlings. These two interplanting models also improved the microbial composition and diversity (Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidota, etc.) in the rhizosphere soil of C. fungigraminus seedlings. Among all the samples, 189 and 59 genes were involved in methane cycling and nitrogen cycling, respectively, which improved the presence of the serine cycle, ribulose monophosphate, assimilatory nitrate reduction, methane absorption, and glutamate synthesis and inhibited denitrification. Through correlation analysis and the Mantel test, the putative functional genes, encoding functions in both nitrogen and methane cycling, were shown to have a significant positive effect on pH, moisture, AMN, SOM, SMBC, and soil peroxidase activity, while not displaying a significant effect on soil nitrogenase activity and total amino sugar (p < 0.05). The short-term influence of the interplanting model was shown to improve land use efficiency and economic profitability per unit land area, and the models could provide sustainable agricultural production for rural revitalization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbial Carbon/Nitrogen/Phosphorus Cycling)
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16 pages, 4493 KiB  
Article
Synthetic Microbial Community Promotes Bacterial Communities Leading to Soil Multifunctionality in Desertified Land
by Xinwei Hao, Yazhou Gu, Hongzhi Zhang, Xiao Wang, Xiaozhen Liu, Chunlei Chen, Congcong Wang, Xiaoqing Zhang, Xingyu Liu and Xihui Shen
Microorganisms 2024, 12(6), 1117; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12061117 - 30 May 2024
Viewed by 494
Abstract
Soil desertification is an important challenge in global soil management, and effectively and stably restoring soil function is an urgent problem. Using synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) is a burgeoning microbial strategy aimed at enhancing soil nutrients through functional synergies among diverse microorganisms; nevertheless, [...] Read more.
Soil desertification is an important challenge in global soil management, and effectively and stably restoring soil function is an urgent problem. Using synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) is a burgeoning microbial strategy aimed at enhancing soil nutrients through functional synergies among diverse microorganisms; nevertheless, their effectiveness in restoring desertified soils remains unknown. In this study, we conducted a two-year field experiment using a SynCom constructed by in situ probiotic bacteria and set up control, chemical fertilizer, and combined SynCom–chemical fertilizer (combined fertilizer) treatments to investigate the linkage between microbial communities and soil multifunctionality in the soil surface layer (0–10 cm). Both the bacterial and fungal communities differed the most under the combined fertilizer treatment compared to the control. The bacterial communities differed more under treatments of the SynCom than the chemical fertilizer, while the fungal communities differed more under the chemical fertilizer treatment than the SynCom treatment. Regarding soil function, the SynCom strengthened the correlation between enzyme activities and both bacterial communities and functional properties. pH and available potassium were the main influencing factors under the chemical fertilizer and combined fertilizer treatments. The beta-diversity of the bacterial communities was significantly correlated with soil multifunctionality. Random forest analyses showed that the SynCom significantly enhanced the bacterial communities, driving soil multifunctionality, and that some potential microbial taxa drove multiple nutrient cycles simultaneously. In summary, the SynCom effectively increased the abundance of most carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus functional genes as well as soil enzyme activities. The bacterial community composition contributed significantly to soil multifunctionality. Hence, the development of novel microbial agents holds significant potential for improving soil functionality and managing desertification. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbial Carbon/Nitrogen/Phosphorus Cycling)
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15 pages, 2944 KiB  
Article
Bacteria, Fungi, and Protists Exhibit Distinct Responses to Managed Vegetation Restoration in the Karst Region
by Can Xiao, Dan Xiao, Mingming Sun and Kelin Wang
Microorganisms 2024, 12(6), 1074; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12061074 - 26 May 2024
Viewed by 665
Abstract
Bacteria, fungi, and protists occupy a pivotal position in maintaining soil ecology. Despite limited knowledge on their responses to managed vegetation restoration strategies in karst regions, we aimed to study the essential microbial communities involved in the process of vegetation restoration. We compared [...] Read more.
Bacteria, fungi, and protists occupy a pivotal position in maintaining soil ecology. Despite limited knowledge on their responses to managed vegetation restoration strategies in karst regions, we aimed to study the essential microbial communities involved in the process of vegetation restoration. We compared microbial characteristics in four land use types: planted forests (PF), forage grass (FG), a mixture of plantation forest and forage grass (FF), and cropland (CR) as a reference. Our findings revealed that the richness of bacteria and protists was higher in FF compared to PF, while fungal richness was lower in both PF and FF than in CR. Additionally, the bacterial Shannon index in FF was higher than that in CR and PF, while the fungal and protist Shannon indices were similar across all four land use types. Significant differences were observed in the compositions of bacterial, fungal, and protist communities between FF and the other three land use types, whereas bacterial, fungal, and protist communities were relatively similar in PF and FG. In FF, the relative abundance of bacterial taxa Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, and Gemmatimonadetes was significantly higher than in PF and CR. Fungal communities were dominated by Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, with the relative abundance of Ascomycota significantly higher in FF compared to other land use types. Regarding protistan taxa, the relative abundance of Chlorophyta was higher in FF compared to CR, PF, and FG, while the relative abundance of Apicomplexa was higher in CR compared to FF. Importantly, ammonium nitrogen, total phosphorus, and microbial biomass nitrogen were identified as key soil properties predicting changes in the diversity of bacteria, fungi, and protists. Our results suggest that the microbial community under FF exhibits greater sensitivity to vegetation restoration compared to PF and FG. This sensitivity may stem from differences in soil properties, the formation of biological crusts and root systems, and management activities, resulting in variations in bacterial, fungal, and protist diversity and taxa in PF. As a result, employing a combination restoration strategy involving plantation forest and forage grass proves to be an effective approach to enhance the microbial community and thereby improve ecosystem functionality in ecologically fragile areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbial Carbon/Nitrogen/Phosphorus Cycling)
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