The microbial community,nutrient supply and crop yields differ along a potassium fertilizer gradient under wheat-maize double-cropping systems

Soil microorganisms play critical roles in ecosystem function.However,the relative impact of the potassium(K)fertilizer gradient on the microbial community in wheat-maize double-cropping systems remains unclear.In this long-term field experiment(2008-2019),we researched bacterial and fungal diversity,composition,and community assemblage in the soil along a K fertilizer gradient in the wheat season(K0,no K fertilizer;K1,45 kg ha^(-1) K_(2)O;K_(2),90 kg ha^(-1)K_(2)O;K3,135 kg ha^(-1)K_(2)O)and in the maize season(K0,no K fertilizer;K_(1),150 kg ha^(-1) K_(2)O;K_(2),300 kg ha^(-1)K_(2)O;K_(3),450 kg ha^(-1)K_(2)O)using bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal internally transcribed spacer(ITS)data.We observed that environmental variables,such as mean annual soil temperature(MAT)and precipitation,available K,ammonium,nitrate,and organic matter,impacted the soil bacterial and fungal communities,and their impacts varied with fertilizer treatments and crop species.Furthermore,the relative abundance of bacteria involved in soil nutrient transformation(phylum Actinobacteria and class Alphaproteobacteria)in the wheat season was significantly increased compared to the maize season,and the optimal K fertilizer dosage(K2 treatment)boosted the relative bacterial abundance of soil nutrient transformation(genus Lactobacillus)and soil denitrification(phylum Proteobacteria)bacteria in the wheat season.The abundance of the soil bacterial community promoting root growth and nutrient absorption(genus Herbaspirillum)in the maize season was improved compared to the wheat season,and the K2 treatment enhanced the bacterial abundance of soil nutrient transformation(genus MND1)and soil nitrogen cycling(genus Nitrospira)genera in the maize season.The results indicated that the bacterial and fungal communities in the double-cropping system exhibited variable sensitivities and assembly mechanisms along a K fertilizer gradient,and microhabitats explained the largest amount of the variation in crop yields,and improved wheat?maize yields by 11.2-22.6 and 9.2-23.8%with K addition,respectively.These modes are shaped contemporaneously by the different meteorological factors and soil nutrient changes in the K fertilizer gradients.

Responses of soil enzyme and microbial community under co-loading of different microplastics and sulfamethoxazole

Polyamide/polyethylene(PA/PE)microplastics were injected into soil containing sulfamethoxazole(SMX)to investigate their combined effects on SMX removal,soil enzyme activity,and microbial communities.The results show that both PA and PE transiently increase SMX removal and inhibite the stimulation of microbial species diversity by SMX.The effect of PE is more significant.Meanwhile,PE combined with SMX increases the relative abundances of Actinobacteria and Pseudomonas,while PA combined with SMX decreases the relative abundances of Nocardioides and Streptomyces.In addition,PA/PE combined with SMX can increase dehydrogenase,urease,ammonia monooxygenase,and nitrate reductase activities in the soil while inhibiting the activity of laccase.Compared with PA combined with SMX,the activities of dehydrogenase,urease,ammonia monooxygenase,and laccase of PE combined with SMX increase by 9.82%,10.41%,8.07%,and 5.47%,while the activities of nitrate reductase and neutral phosphatase decrease by 1.47%and 6.78%.

PLFA Analysis of Soil Microbial Community Structure in Different Forest Types

Soil soluble organic matter is an important component in the study of carbon and nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Soil microorganisms, as soil decomposers, participate in soil biogeochemical processes and play an important role in maintaining the balance of soil ecosystems. As a typical subtropical regional unit, Queensland, Australia, is a relatively concentrated distribution area of forests in Australia. It is very sensitive to climate change and plays an important role in Australian climate and even global climate change. Its unique natural environment and ecosystem occupy a special position in the world. However, the knowledge of available carbon and nitrogen pool and microbial activity in forest soil is still very limited. Pinus elliottii, Araucaria cunninghamii and Agathis australis are the three most important forest types in southern Queensland, Australia. In our research, the function and structural diversity of soil microbial communities of these three forest types were studied using biochemical and molecular biological methods, and the effective carbon and nitrogen pools of soil of different forest types and related microbial processes were discussed, which has important theoretical guiding significance for further research on the structure and function of soil ecosystem. The number of PLFAs in the soil of P. elliottii was 45, the number of PLFAs in the soil of Araucaria cunninghamii and Agathis australis was 39 and 35, respectively. The number and content of PLFAs monomer in P. elliottii were higher than those in the other two kinds of forest soil.

Effects of Different Agricultural Managements on Characteristics of Soil Microbial Community under Continuous Cropped Strawberry(Fragaria ananassa Duchesne)

[Objective] The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different agricultural managements on soil microbial population,activity,functional diversity and soil enzyme activity in continuous mono-cropping field of strawberry.[Method]A field plot experiment was carried out to evaluate characteristics of soil microbial community by soil enzyme analysis,microbial cultivation and Biolog analysis.[Result]The results showed that bacteria population proportion,the ration of bacteria to fungi,microorganism amount,AWCD,soil dehydrogenase activity,the Shannon,Simpson,and Mcintosh indices of soil microbial communities were obviously increased under strawberry-rice rotation,soil solarization with rice bran,and calcium cyanamide（CaCN2）treatments,in addition,soil urease activity was significantly increased under strawberry-rice rotation and soil solarization with rice bran treatment,when compared with no fertilization.When compared with conventional fertilization treatment,strawberry-rice rotation and soil solarization with rice bran both significantly increased AWCD and Mcintosh index of soil microbial communities,meanwhile respectively increased soil urease and dehydrogenase activity.PCA analyses suggested that carbon utilization of soil microbial communities under strawberry-rice rotation,soil solarization with rice bran,and calcium cyanamide treatment was obviously different from that of conventional fertilization and no fertilization treatment.[Conclusion] strawberry-rice rotation and soil solarization with rice bran were effective agricultural managements to control soil biological degradation under Continuous Cropped Strawberry.

High efficient mixed culture screening and selected microbial community shift for bioleaching process

To screen the high efficient mixed culture and understand the bioleaching behaviors of mixed culture for low-grade copper sulfide ore bioleaching,ten mixed cultures were collected and screened from different acid mine drainages obtained from sulfide mines of China.The leaching rate was set as criterion to screen the mixed culture and the metagenomic approach.Community genome array（CGA） was used for analyzing the mixed culture microbial community shift during the bioleaching process.The results indicate that the mixed culture obtained from Yinshan（YS） lead-zinc mine in Dexing of Jiangxi province in China reaches the maximum copper extraction（68.89%） during the one bioleaching period of 24 d.CGA results show that YS culture contains nine kinds of bacteria which are belong to six divisions,and the microbial community structure is changing during the bioleaching process.This provides a good way to accelerate the bioleaching process and reveals the microbial community shift during the bioleaching process.

Bioleaching of Pb-Zn-Sn chalcopyrite concentrate in tank bioreactor and microbial community succession analysis

The variation of microbial community structure was investigated for the tank bioleaching process of Pb-Zn-Sn chalcopyrite concentrate in the presence of mixed moderately thermophilic bacteria. The parameters, such as pH value, solution potential and concentrations of metal ions, were determined by the method of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism （PCR-RFLP） to analyze the succession of microbial community. The results showed that a final copper extraction rate of 85.6% could be obtained after tank bioleaching for 30 d. The Acidithiobacillus caldus was the dominant population with abundance of about 73.80%in the initial stage, then Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans dominated from the 18th day to the end of bioleaching, while the abundance of Leptospirillum ferriphilum changed slightly. A higher solution potential within a certain range and appropriate concentration of ferric ions were essential for this tank bioleaching of chalcopyrite.

Screening of Preprocessing Method of Biolog for Soil Microbial Community Functional Diversity

As one of the main methods of microbial community functional diversity measurement, biolog method was favored by many researchers for its simple oper- ation, high sensitivity, strong resolution and rich data. But the preprocessing meth- ods reported in the literatures were not the same. In order to screen the best pre- processing method, this paper took three typical treatments to explore the effect of different preprocessing methods on soil microbial community functional diversity. The results showed that, method B＇s overall trend of AWCD values was better than A and C＇s. Method B＇s microbial utilization of six carbon sources was higher, and the result was relatively stable. The Simpson index, Shannon richness index and Car- bon source utilization richness index of the two treatments were B〉C〉A, while the Mclntosh index and Shannon evenness were not very stable, but the difference of variance analysis was not significant, and the method B was always with a smallest variance. Method B＇s principal component analysis was better than A and C＇s. In a word, the method using 250 r/min shaking for 30 minutes and cultivating at 28 ℃ was the best one, because it was simple, convenient, and with good repeatability.

Influence of Dark Brown Soil Respiration and Microbial Community under Cadmium Stress

Through laboratory simulation, the influence of cadmium on soil respiratory intensity and microbial community were studied by adding different concentrations of heavy metal cadmium. The results indicated that, the soil respiration had a signifi- cant weakening trend in the same culture days with increasing exogenous cadmium content; the soil respiration intensity was decreased obviously with the increase of culture time, especially after 14 d when the soil exogenous cadmium content was in the range of 0.5-3.0 mg/kg, while the soil respiration had not obvious variation over time when the exogenous cadmium content was in the range of 5.0-10.0 mg/kg. The soil microbial communities decreased significantly and were much lower than that of the control treatment in the same culture days with the increasing of soil exogenous cadmium content; the soil microbial community declined significantly with increasing of culture time for all exogenous cadmium treatments. The number of soil microbial communities in treatment with 10 mg/kg of exogenous cadmium were only 46.43%, 32.26%, 28.74%, 27.39% and 24.62% of that in control treatment on the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th and 42rd of culture, respectively. It indicated that higher concen- tration of cadmium in dark brown soil had a significant inhibitory effect on soil mi- crobial growth.

Production of Biotechnology Fulvic Acid from Fermented Corn Straw by Microbial Community LCM9 and Its Application Effect

[Objective] The aim was to evaluate the feasibility of biotechnology fulvic acid produced by microbial community LCM9 by the use of corn straws as substrate and its application effect.[Method]Microbial community was obtained from the nature samples,and corn straws were used as fermentation substrate.The yield of biotechnology fulvic acid and its application effect was evaluated.[Result]The yield of biotechnology fulvic acid was up to 15.7% when the water content was 75.0% and fermented after 7 d using corn straws as the only source of nutrition.After 500 mg/kg of biotechnology fulvic acid was added for 5 d,the root length and bud length could be increased by 59.1% and 97.1%,respectively.[Conclusion]A higher yield of biotechnology fulvic acid could be obtained by the method in this experiment and the product could enhance the growth of wheat seedlings.

Soil Microbial Community Structure in Diverse Land Use Systems:A Comparative Study Using Biolog,DGGE,and PLFA Analyses

Biolog, 16S rRNA gene denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE）, and phospholipid fatty acid （PLFA） analyses were used to assess soil microbial community characteristics in a chronosequence of tea garden systems （8-, 50-, and 90- year-old tea gardens）, an adjacent wasteland, and a 90-year-old forest. Biolog analysis showed that the average well color development （AWCD） of all carbon sources and the functional diversity based on the Shannon index decreased （P 〈 0.05） in the following order： wasteland 〉 forest 〉 tea garden. For the DCCE analysis, the genetic diversity based on the Shannon index was significantly lower in the tea garden soils than in the wasteland. However, compared to the 90-year-old forest, the tea garden soils showed significantly higher genetic diversity. PLFA analysis showed that the ratio of Gram positive bacteria to Cram negative bacteria was significantly higher in the tea garden soils than in the wasteland, and the highest value was found in the 90-year-old forest. Both the fungal PLFA and the ratio of fungi to bacteria were significantly higher in the three tea garden soils than in the wasteland and forest, indicating that fungal PLFA was significantly affected by land-use change. Based on cluster analysis of the soil microbial community structure, all three analytical methods showed that land-use change had a greater effect on soil microbial community structure than tea garden age.

Inuence of oxytetracycline on the structure and activity of microbial community in wheat rhizosphere soil

The microbial community composition in wheat rhizosphere was analyzed by detecting colony forming units （CFUs） in agar plates. The total CFUs in rhizosphere were 1.04×10^9/g soil with 9.0×10^8/g bacteria, 1.37×10^8/g actinomyces and 3.6×10^6/g fungi. The 10 dominant bacteria were isolated from wheat rhizosphere and were grouped into genus Bacillus according to their full length 16S rRNA gene sequences. Although belonging to the same genus, the isolated strains exhibited different sensitivities to oxytetracycline. When a series of the rhizosphere soil was exposed under various concentrations of oxytetracycline, the microbial community structure was highly affected with significant decline of CFUs of bacteria and actinomyces （22.2% and 31.7% at 10 mg/kg antibiotic, respectively）. This inhibition was clearly enhanced with the increase exposure dosage of antibiotic and could not be eliminated during 30 d incubation. There was no obvious influence of this treatment on fungi population. Among the four soil enzymes （alkaline phosphatase, acidic phosphatase, dehydrogenase and urease）, only alkaline phospbatase was sensitive to oxytetracycline exposure with 41.3% decline of the enzyme activity at 10 mg/kg antibiotic and further decrease of 64.3%-80.8% when the dosage over 30 mg/kg.

Soil enzymatic activities and microbial community structure with different application rates of Cd and Pb

This study focused on the changes of soil microbial diversity and potential inhibitory effects of heavy metals on soil enzymatic activities at different application rates of Cd and/or Pb. The soil used for experiments was collected from Beijing and classified as endoaquepts. Pots containing 500 g of the soil with different Cd and/or Pb application rates were incubated for a period of 0, 2, 9, 12 weeks in a glasshouse and the soil samples were analyzed for individual enzymes, including catalase, alkaline phosphatase and dehydrogenase, and the changes of microbial community structure. Results showed that heavy metals slightly inhibited the enzymatic activities in all the samples spiked with heavy metals. The extent of inhibition increased significantly with increasing level of heavy metals, and varied with the incubation periods. The soil bacterial community structure, as determined by polymerase chain reaction- denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis techniques, was different in the contaminated samples as compared to the control. The highest community change was observed in the samples amended with high level of Cd. Positive correlations were observed among the three enzymatic activities, but negative correlations were found between the amounts of the heavy metals and the enzymatic activities.

Responses of Soil Microbial Community Structure and Diversity to Agricultural Deintensification

Using a scheme of agricultural fields with progressively less intensive management (deintensification), different manage- ment practices in six agroecosystems located near Goldsboro, NC, USA were tested in a large-scale experiment, including two cash-grain cropping systems employing either tillage (CT) or no-tillage (NT), an organic farming system (OR), an integrated cropping system with animals (IN), a successional field (SU), and a plantation woodlot (WO). Microbial phos- pholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles and substrate utilization patterns (BIOLOG ECO plates) were measured to examine the effects of deintensification on the structure and diversity of soil microbial communities. Principle component analyses of PLFA and BIOLOG data showed that the microbial community structure diverged among the soils of the six systems. Lower microbial diversity was found in lowly managed ecosystem than that in intensive and moderately managed agro- ecosystems, and both fungal contribution to the total identified PLFAs and the ratio of microbial biomass C/N increased along with agricultural deintensification. Significantly higher ratios of C/N (P < 0.05) were found in the WO and SU systems, and for fungal/bacterial PLFAs in the WO system (P < 0.05). There were also significant decreases (P < 0.05) along with agricultural deintensification for contributions of total bacterial and gram positive (G+) bacterial PLFAs. Agricultural deintensification could facilitate the development of microbial communities that favor soil fungi over bacteria.

Effect of cypermethrin insecticide on the microbial community in cucumber phyllosphere

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is one of the most widely used vegetable in the world,and different pesticides have been extensively used for controlling the insects and disease pathogens of this plant.However,little is known about how the pesticides affect the microbial community in cucumber phyllosphere.This study was the first attempt to assess the impact of pyrethroid insecticide cyperemethrin on the microbial communities of cucumber phyllosphere using biochemical and genetic approaches.Phospholipid fatty ac...

Process of rice straw degradation and dynamic trend of pH by the microbial community MC1

The process of the rice straw degradation in the fermentor with aeration at 290 ml/h was studied. The results of dissolved oxygen （DO） indicated that the optimum DO during cellulose degradation by microbial community MC1 ranged from 0.01 to 0.12 mg/L. The change model ofpH values was as follows： irrespective of the initial pH of the medium, pH values decreased rapidly to approximate 6.0 after being inoculated within 48 h when cellulose was strongly degraded, and then increased slowly to 8.0--9.0 until cellulose was degraded completely. During the degradation process, 15 kinds of organic compounds were checked out by GC-MS. Most of them were organic acids. Quantity analysis was carried out, and the maximum content compound was ethyl acetate which reached 13.56 g/L on the day 4. The cellulose degradation quantity and ratio analyses showed that less quantity （under batch fermentation conditions） and longer interval （under semi-fermentation conditions） of rice straw added to fermentation system were contributed to matching the change model of pH, and increasing the quantity and ratio of rice straw degradation during cellulose degrading process. The highest degradation ratio was observed under the condition office straw added one time every five days （under semi-fermentation conditions）.

Comparative study of microbial community structure in different filter media of constructed wetland

Comparisons of microbial community structure, in eight filter media of zeolites, anthracite, shale, vermiculite, ceramic filter media, gravel, steel slag and bio-ceramic, were undertaken by analyzing the phospholipid fatty acid （PLFA） composition. A total of 20 fatty acids in the range of C18to C20 were determined but only 13 PLFAs were detected in steel slag. They consist of saturated fatty acids, branched fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The variation of fatty acids was revealed in the relative proportions of these fatty acids in different media. The aerobic prokaryotes were the predominant group in all media. The PLFA composition showed significant differences among the eight different media by Tukey＇s honestly test. It was found that steel slag was significantly different in the microbial community as compared to other filter media, probably due to its alkaline effluent. Steel slag alone is probably not a good choice of substratum in constructed wetlands. The principle components analysis （PCA） showed that zeolites, bio-ceramic, shale and vermiculite had a similar microbial community structure while steel slag and ceramic filter media were distinct from other media.

Effect of Different Vegetation Types on the Rhizosphere Soil Microbial Community Structure in the Loess Plateau of China

The Loess Plateau in China is one of the most eroded areas in the world. Accordingly, vegetation restoration has been implemented in this area over the past two decades to remedy the soil degradation problem. Understanding the microbial community structure is essential for the sustainability of ecosystems and for the reclamation of degraded arable land. This study aimed to determine the effect of different vegetation types on microbial processes and community structure in rhizosphere soils in the Loess Plateau. The six vegetation types were as follows：two natural grassland （Artemisia capillaries and Heteropappus altaicus）, two artificial grassland （Astragalus adsurgens and Panicum virgatum）, and two artificial shrubland （Caragana korshinskii and Hippophae rhamnoides） species. The microbial community structure and functional diversity were examined by analyzing the phospholipid fatty acids （PLFAs） and community-level physiological profiles. The results showed that rhizosphere soil sampled from the H. altaicus and A. capillaries plots had the highest values of microbial biomass C, average well color development of carbon resources, Gram-negative （G-） bacterial PLFA, bacterial PLFA, total PLFA, Shannon richness, and Shannon evenness, as well as the lowest metabolic quotient. Soil sampled from the H. rhamnoides plots had the highest metabolic quotient and Gram-positive （G＋） bacterial PLFA, and soil sampled from the A. adsurgens and A. capillaries plots had the highest fungal PLFA and fungal：bacterial PLFA ratio. Correlation analysis indicated a signiifcant positive relationship among the microbial biomass C, G- bacterial PLFA, bacterial PLFA, and total PLFA. In conclusion, plant species under arid climatic conditions signiifcantly affected the microbial community structure in rhizosphere soil. Among the studied plants, natural grassland species generated the most favorable microbial conditions.

Changes in Transformation of Soil Organic C and Functional Diversity of Soil Microbial Community Under Different Land Uses

Changes in soil biological and biochemical properties under different land uses in the subtropical region of China were investigated in order to develop rational cultivation and fertilization management. A small watershed of subtropical region of China was selected for this study. Land uses covered paddy fields, vegetable farming, fruit trees, upland crops, bamboo stands, and forestry. Soil biological and biochemical properties included soil organic C and nutrient contents, mineralization of soil organic C, and soil microbial biomass and community functional diversity. Soil organic C and total N contents, microbial biomass C and N, and respiration intensity under different land uses were changed in the following order： paddy fields （and vegetable farming） 〉 bamboo stands 〉 fruit trccs （and upland）. The top surface （0-15 cm） paddy fields （and vegetable farming） were 76.4 and 80.8% higher in soil organic C and total N contents than fruit trees （and upland） soils, respectively. Subsurface paddy soils （15-30 cm） were 59.8 and 67.3% higher in organic C and total N than upland soils, respectively. Soil microbial C, N and respiration intensity in paddy soils （0-15 cm） were 6.36, 3.63 and 3.20 times those in fruit tree （and upland） soils respectively. Soil microbial metabolic quotient was in the order： fruit trees （and upland） 〉 forestry 〉 paddy fields. Metabolic quotient in paddy soils was only 47.7% of that in fruit tree （and upland） soils. Rates of soil organic C mineralization during incubation changed in the order： paddy fields 〉 bamboo stands 〉 fruit trees （and upland） and soil bacteria population： paddy fields 〉 fruit trees （and upland） 〉 forestry. No significant difference was found for fungi and actinomycetes populations. BIOLOG analysis indicated a changing order of paddy fields 〉 fruit trees （and upland） 〉 forestry in values of the average well cell development （AWCD） and functional diversity indexes of microbial community. Results also showed that the conversion from paddy fields to vegetable farming for 5 years resulted in a dramatic increase in soil available phosphorus content while insignificant changes in soil organic C and total N content due to a large inputs of phosphate fertilizers. This conversion caused 53, 41.5, and 41.3% decreases in soil microbial biomass C, N, and respiration intensity, respectively, while 23.6% increase in metabolic quotient and a decrease in soil organic C mineralization rate. Moreover, soil bacteria and actinomycetes populations were increased slightly, while fungi population increased dramatically. Functional diversity indexes of soil microbial community decreased significantly. It was concluded that land uses in the subtropical region of China strongly affected soil biological and biochemical properties. Soil organic C and nutrient contents, mineralization of organic C and functional diversity of microbial community in paddy fields were higher than those in upland and forestry. Overuse of chemical fertilizers in paddy fields with high fertility might degrade soil biological properties and biochemical function, resulting in deterioration of soil biological quality.

Effects of a decade of organic fertilizer substitution on vegetable yield and soil phosphorus pools, phosphatase activities, and the microbial community in a greenhouse vegetable production system

Partial substitution of chemical fertilizers by organic amendments is adopted widely for promoting the availability of soil phosphorus(P)in agricultural production.However,few studies have comprehensively evaluated the effects of longterm organic substitution on soil P availability and microbial activity in greenhouse vegetable fields.A 10-year(2009–2019)field experiment was carried out to investigate the impacts of organic fertilizer substitution on soil P pools,phosphatase activities and the microbial community,and identify factors that regulate these soil P transformation characteristics.Four treatments included 100%chemical N fertilizer(4 CN),50%substitution of chemical N by manure(2 CN+2 MN),straw(2 CN+2 SN),and combined manure with straw(2 CN+1 MN+1 SN).Compared with the 4 CN treatment,organic substitution treatments increased celery and tomato yields by 6.9-13.8%and 8.6-18.1%,respectively,with the highest yields being in the 2 CN+1 MN+1 SN treatment.After 10 years of fertilization,organic substitution treatments reduced total P and inorganic P accumulation,increased the concentrations of available P,organic P,and microbial biomass P,and promoted phosphatase activities(alkaline and acid phosphomonoesterase,phosphodiesterase,and phytase)and microbial growth in comparison with the 4 CN treatment.Further,organic substitution treatments significantly increased soil C/P,and the partial least squares path model(PLS-PM)revealed that the soil C/P ratio directly and significantly affected phosphatase activities and the microbial biomass and positively influenced soil P pools and vegetable yield.Partial least squares(PLS)regression demonstrated that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi positively affected phosphatase activities.Our results suggest that organic fertilizer substitution can promote soil P transformation and availability.Combining manure with straw was more effective than applying these materials separately for developing sustainable P management practices.

Some Limitations of BIOLOG System for Determining Soil Microbial Community

A laboratory experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) on soil microorganisms and the availability of pH characterization medium in BIOLOG plates. Application of TTC decreased the color development sharply and resulted in a great biocidal effect on the growth and reproduction of soil microorganisms, indicating that TTC can affect the discrimination on soil microbial community. The microtitration plates with 21 carbon sources and two different pH levels (4.7 and 7.0) were used to determine microbial community structure of eight red soils. The average utilization (average well colour development) of the carbon sources in the plates with different pH levels generally followed the same sigmoidal pattern as that in the traditional BIOLOG plates, but the pH 4.7 plates increased the discrimination of this technique, compared with the pH 7.0 plates. Since most tested soils are acid, it seemed that it’s better to use a suitable pH characterization medium for a specific soil in the sole carbon source test.