Nitrification potentials of Chinese tea orchard soils and their adjacent wasteland and forest soils

To investigate the nitrifying activities of different soil types, soil samples collected from 8-, 50- and 90-year old tea orchards, the adjacent wasteland, and 90-year old forest were measured for their nitrification potentials using the conventional soil incubation and the liquid incubation method. Among different soil types, the nitrification potential of soil in tea orchards was higher than that of wasteland and forest soils. The slurry shaken liquid incubation method was confirmed to be more accurate and have reliable results than the soil incubation. Interestingly, experimental result revealed that the generally applied pH value of 7.2 for the liquid media was not the optimal pH for these acid soils with a strong buffer capacity. This suggested that tea orchard soils may have nitrifiers requiring pHneutral condition for the best activity. Our data also showed that treatment with the commonly used nitrogen fertilizer urea significantly improved nitrification potential of the soils; such enhancement effect was stronger on all of three tea orchard soils than on wasteland and forest soils, and also stronger on the younger （8- and 50-year old） tea orchard soils than on the older one （90-year old）.

Variation of Potential Nitrification and Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacterial Community with Plant-Growing Period in Apple Orchard Soil

In this study, we investigated the potential nitrification and community structure of soil-based ammonia-oxidizing bacteria （AOB） in apple orchard soil during different growth periods and explored the effects of environmental factors on nitrification activity and AOB community composition in the soil of a Hanfu apple orchard, using a culture-dependent technique and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE）. We observed that nitrification activity and AOB abundance were the highest in November, lower in May, and the lowest in July. The results of statistical analysis indicated that total nitrogen （N） content, NH4＋-N content, NO3-N content, and pH showed significant correlations with AOB abundance and nitrification activity in soil. The Shannon-Winner diversity, as well as species richness and evenness indices （determined by PCR-DGGE banding patterns） in soil samples were the highest in September, but the lowest in July, when compared to additional sampled dates. The DGGE fingerprints of soil-based 16S rRNA genes in November were apparently distinct from those observed in May, July, and September, possessing the lowest species richness indices and the highest dominance indices among all four growth periods. Fourteen DGGE bands were excised for sequencing. The resulting analysis indicated that all AOB communities belonged to the 13-Proteobacteria phylum, with the dominant AOB showing high similarity to the Nitrosospira genus. Therefore, soil-based environmental factors, such as pH variation and content of NHa＋-N and NO3--N, can substantially influence the abundance of AOB communities in soil, and play a critical role in soil-based nitrification kinetics.

Effects of Long-Term Application of Inorganic Fertilizers on Biochemical Properties of a Rice-Planting Red Soil

A long-term experiment was set up in Yingtan of Jiangxi Province to investigate the effects of long-term application of inorganic fertilizers on the biochemical properties of a rice-planting soil derived from Quaternary red earth. Noncultivated soils are extremely eroded and characterized by a low pH and deficiencies in available nutrients, in particular P and N. After 13 years of inorganic fertilization in cultivation for double-cropped rice, the biochemical properties of the soil were changed. The nitrification potential and urease activity were higher in the treatments with N application than those without N application, Acid phosphatase activity and dehydrogenase activity were also higher in the treatments with P application than in those without P application. The dehydrogenase activity correlated well with the concentrations of both total P and hydrolysable N and with rice crop yield, suggesting that dehydrogenase activity might be a suitable indicator for improvement in soil fertility.

Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Prevents Suppression of Actual Nitrification Rates in the (Myco-)Rhizosphere of Plantago lanceolata

The vast majority of herbaceous plants engage into arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses and consideration of their mycorrhizal status should be embodied in studies of plant-microbe interactions. To establish reliable AM contrasts, however, a sterilized re-inoculation procedure is commonly adopted. It was questioned whether the specific approach is sufficient for the studies targeting the bacterial domain, specifically nitrifiers, a group of autotrophic, slow growing microbes. In a controlled experiment mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal Plantago lanceolata were grown up in compartmentalized pots to study the AM effect on nitrification rates in the plant rhizosphere. Nitrification rates were assayed following an extensive 3-week bacterial equilibration step of the re-inoculated soil and a 13-week plant growth period in a controlled environment. Under these specific conditions, the nitrification potential levels at harvest were exceptionally low, and actual nitrification rates of the root compartment of non-mycorrhizal P. lanceolata were significantly lower than those of any other compartment. It is then argued that the specific effects should be attributed to the alleged higher growth rates of non-mycorrhizal plants that are known to occur early in the AM experiment. It is concluded that the specific experimental approach is not suitable for the study of microbes with slow growth rates.

Responses of soil ammonia oxidizers to a short-term severe mercury stress

The responses of soil ammonia-oxidizing archaea（AOA） and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria（AOB） to mercury（Hg） stress were investigated through a short-term incubation experiment.Treated with four different concentrations of Hg（CK,Hg25,Hg50,and Hg100,denoting 0,25,50,and 100 mg Hg/kg dry soil,respectively）,samples were harvested after 3,7,and 28 day incubation.Results showed that the soil potential nitrification rate（PNR） was significantly inhibited by Hg stress during the incubation.However,lower abundances of AOA（the highest in CK： 9.20 × 10~7 copies/g dry soil; the lowest in Hg50： 2.68 × 10~7 copies/g dry soil） and AOB（the highest in CK： 2.68 × 10~7 copies/g dry soil; the lowest in Hg50：7.49 × 10~6 copies/g dry soil） were observed only at day 28 of incubation（P 〈 0.05）.Moreover,only the community structure of soil AOB obviously shifted under Hg stress as seen through DGGE profiles,which revealed that 2-3 distinct AOB bands emerged in the Hg treatments at day 28.In summary,soil PNR might be a very useful parameter to assess acute Hg stress on soil ecosystems,and the community structure of soil AOB might be a realistic biological indicator for the assessment of heavy metal stress on soil ecosystems in the future.