AUTHOR=Zheng Man Man , Wang Chao , Li Wen Xing , Song Wen Feng , Shen Ren Fang 

TITLE=Soil Nutrients Drive Function and Composition of phoC-Harboring Bacterial Community in Acidic Soils of Southern China

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02654

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2019.02654

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Phosphorus (P) deficiency is an important factor that limits the agricultural production potential in acidic soils. The bacterial <italic>phoC</italic> gene encodes non-specific acid phosphatase (ACP), which participates in the mineralization of soil organic P and is therefore important for the improvement of soil P availability. However, the function and community population of <italic>phoC</italic>-harboring bacteria and their driving factors in acidic soil remain largely unknown. For this study, 51 soil samples and 207 plant samples were collected from four locations in the acidic soil region of southern China. Quantitative PCR and high-throughput sequencing were employed to analyze abundance and community composition of <italic>phoC</italic>-harboring bacteria. The results showed that soil P availability was the important nutrient element limiting the growth of both plants and soil bacteria. Soil ACP activity was clearly higher than alkaline phosphatase, indicating the important effect of <italic>phoC</italic>-harboring bacteria in acidic soils. ACP activity and <italic>phoC</italic> gene abundance showed a significant positive correlation, and both were closely related to soil available P, total carbon, and total nitrogen. The dominant genera of <italic>phoC</italic>-harboring bacteria involved <italic>Cupriavidus</italic>, <italic>Stenotrophomonas</italic>, and <italic>Xanthomonas</italic>. Compared to land-use pattern, sampling location, and soil parent material, soil property played a more important role in affecting <italic>phoC</italic>-harboring bacterial community structure, where N-related variables including soil NO<inline-formula><mml:math id="INEQ1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msubsup><mml:mi /><mml:mn>3</mml:mn><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msubsup></mml:math></inline-formula> -N, NH<inline-formula><mml:math id="INEQ2" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msubsup><mml:mi /><mml:mn>4</mml:mn><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msubsup></mml:math></inline-formula> -N, and C/N ratio appeared to be the main factors. These findings suggest that <italic>phoC</italic>-harboring bacteria should provide an important contribution to soil P availability in acidic soil, and its function and community composition were strongly associated with soil nutrients.</p>