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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbiological Chemistry and Geomicrobiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1514646
This article is part of the Research Topic Mineral Solubilizing Microorganisms (MSM) and Their Applications in Nutrient Bioavailability, Bioweathering and Bioremediation, Vol III View all 7 articles

Effects of fertilizer application on the bacterial community and weathering characteristics of typical purple parent rocks

Provisionally accepted
Xuan Wang Xuan Wang 1,2Jixia Zhao Jixia Zhao 3Chunpei Li Chunpei Li 1,2Limei Deng Limei Deng 1,2Rongyang Cui Rongyang Cui 1,2Tao Zhou Tao Zhou 1,2Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain 1,2Gangcai Liu Gangcai Liu 2*
  • 1 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Beijing, China
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Growth Process and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (CAS), Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 3 College of Resources and Environment, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Rock weathering is a fundamental process that shapes Earth's topography, soil formation, and other surface processes. However, the mechanisms underlying the influence of fertilizer application on weathering remain poorly understood, especially with respect to bacterial intervention. In this study, purple parent rocks from Shaximiao Group (J2s) and Penglaizhen Group (J3p) were selected to investigate the effects of fertilizer application on the bacterial community and weathering characteristics of these rock by leaching experiment. The results revealed that: fertilizer application, especially when at high levels, greatly altered the abundance, diversity and composition of the bacterial community in weathered products. Through redundancy analysis, a decrease in pH and increases in available nutrients (AN and AP) resulting from fertilizer application were identified as the key factors driving changes of bacterial community composition in weathered products.Moreover, fertilizer application promotes the physical and chemical weathering of the parent rocks to some extent. This is especially true for the chemical weathering of J2s. Structural equation model indicated that fertilizer application affects weathering through multiple pathways by affecting the chemical properties (pH, C:N and AP), specific bacterial genera (IMCC26256, Ramlibacter, and Nitrosospira), and bacterial community composition of weathered products. Our study links weathering characteristics with chemical properties and bacterial community changes of weathered products after fertilizer application, which plays a key role in controlling and predicting dynamic changes of rock weathering in space and time. It is helpful to further understand the law of human activities affecting the surface processes.

    Keywords: bacterial community composition, Bioweathering, Fertilization, Rock weathering, weathered products

    Received: 21 Oct 2024; Accepted: 18 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Zhao, Li, Deng, Cui, Zhou, Hussain and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gangcai Liu, Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Growth Process and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (CAS), Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, China

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