Temporal and Spatial Variations of Microbial Carbon Utilization in Water Bodies from the Dajiuhu Peatland, Central China

To investigate the microbial utilization of organic carbon in peatland ecosystem, water samples were collected from the Dajiuhu Peatland and nearby lakes, central China across the year of 2014. The acridine orange （AO） staining and Biolog Eco microplates were used to numerate microbial counts and determine the carbon utilization of microbial communities. Meanwhile, physicochemical characteristics were measured for subsequent analysis of the correlation between microbial carbon utilization and environmental factors. Results indicated that total microbial counts were between 106107 cells/L. Microbial diversities and carbon utilization rates showed a similar pattern, highest in September and lowest in November. Microbial communities in the peat pore waters preferred to utilize N-bearing carbon sources such as amines and amino acids compared with microbial communities in lakes. The network analysis of microbial utilization of 31 carbon substrates clearly distinguished microbial communities from peat pore waters and those from lakes. Redundancy analysis （RDA） showed the total organic nitrogen content （P=-0.03, F=2.5） and daily average temperature （P=0.034, F=2.4） significantly controlled microbial carbon utilization throughout the sampling period. Our report is the first one to address the temporal and spatial variations of carbon uti- lization of microbial communities which are closely related to the decomposition of organic matter in the Dajiuhu Peatland in context of climate warming.

Microbial community structure and functional metabolic diversity are associated with organic carbon availability in an agricultural soil

Exploration of soil environmental characteristics governing soil microbial community structure and activity may improve our understanding of biogeochemical processes and soil quality. The impact of soil environmental characteristics especially organic carbon availability after 15-yr different organic and inorganic fertilizer inputs on soil bacterial community structure and functional metabolic diversity of soil microbial communities were evaluated in a 15-yr fertilizer experiment in Changping County, Beijing, China. The experiment was a wheat-maize rotation system which was established in 1991 including four different fertilizer treatments. These treatments included： a non-amended control（CK）, a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer treatment（NPK）; a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer with swine manure incorporated treatment（NPKM）, and a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer with maize straw incorporated treatment（NPKS）. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis（DGGE） of the 16 S r RNA gene was used to determine the bacterial community structure and single carbon source utilization profiles were determined to characterize the microbial community functional metabolic diversity of different fertilizer treatments using Biolog Eco plates. The results indicated that long-term fertilized treatments significantly increased soil bacterial community structure compared to CK. The use of inorganic fertilizer with organic amendments incorporated for long term（NPKM, NPKS） significantly promoted soil bacterial structure than the application of inorganic fertilizer only（NPK）, and NPKM treatment was the most important driver for increases in the soil microbial community richness（S） and structural diversity（H）. Overall utilization of carbon sources by soil microbial communities（average well color development, AWCD） and microbial substrate utilization diversity and evenness indices（H＇ and E） indicated that long-term inorganic fertilizer with organic amendments incorporated（NPKM, NPKS） could significantly stimulate soil microbial metabolic activity and functional diversity relative to CK, while no differences of them were found between NPKS and NPK treatments. Principal component analysis（PCA） based on carbon source utilization profiles also showed significant separation of soil microbial community under long-term fertilization regimes and NPKM treatment was significantly separated from the other three treatments primarily according to the higher microbial utilization of carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, polymers, phenolic compounds, and amino acid, while higher utilization of amines/amides differed soil microbial community in NPKS treatment from those in the other three treatments. Redundancy analysis（RDA） indicated that soil organic carbon（SOC） availability, especially soil microbial biomass carbon（Cmic） and Cmic/SOC ratio are the key factors of soil environmental characteristics contributing to the increase of both soil microbial community structure and functional metabolic diversity in the long-term fertilization trial. Our results showed that long-term inorganic fertilizer and swine manure application could significantly improve soil bacterial community structure and soil microbial metabolic activity through the increases in SOC availability, which could provide insights into the sustainable management of China＇s soil resource.

Effects of Waxy Maize Relay Intercropping and Residue Retention on Rhizosphere Microbial Communities and Vegetable Yield in a Continuous Cropping System

Intercropping and residue retention contribute to high yield and quality of crops. However, their coupled effects on rhizospheric microbial communities under a continuous vegetable cropping system have not been adequately addressed. The objective of the present study was to assess the effects on soil microbial community and yields of waxy maize（Zea mays L.） intercropped with or without residue retention in a continuous broccoli（Brassica oleracea L.） cropping system, i.e., relay intercropping of broccoli and waxy maize（B/M-B）, relay intercropping of broccoli and waxy maize with residue retention（B/MR-B）, and broccoli monoculture（B-B）. The biomass yields of spring and autumn vegetables in B/MR-B were 16.3%–32.5% and 30.1%–46.1% higher than those of B-B,respectively. Autumn vegetable economic yields of B/MR-B were 28.2%–40.3% higher than B-B. The average well color development followed the order： B/MR-B ＆gt; B/M-B ＆gt; B-B. The Shannon index, Simpson index, and Mc Intosh index were higher in B/MR-B than under monoculture. A principal component analysis showed that microbial communities of B/MR-B soils differed from those of B/M-B and B-B soils. Carbon（C） sources utilized by the rhizosphere microorganisms were mainly carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, amino acids, and polymers; however, the C sources for the soil microbial community differed between intercropping and monoculture. The communities from B/MR-B preferred amino acids and polymers. Available nitrogen（N）, potassium（K）, and phosphorus（P） had an obvious impact on soil microbial community. Additionally, the C source utilization by microorganisms was significantly affected by p H and available K and P. Cropping system diversification through relay intercropping and residue retention effectively improved the functional diversity of the soil microbial communities and increased the yields of vegetables.