Abstract

Phosphorus (P) solubilization is an important process for P acquisition by plants and soil microbes in most temperate forests. The abundance of inorganic P solubilizing bacteria (PSB) is affected by the P concentration in the soil and the carbon input by plants. We used a girdling approach to investigate the interplay of root-derived C and initial P content on the community composition of gcd-harboring bacteria as an example of PSB, which produce gluconic acid. We hypothesized that gcd-harboring PSB communities from P-poor sites are more vulnerable to girdling, because of their lower diversity, and that a shift in gcd-harboring PSB communities by girdling is caused by a response of few, mostly oligotrophic, taxa. We used a high-throughput metabarcoding approach targeting the gcd gene, which codes for the quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase, an enzyme involved in the solubilization of inorganic R We compared the diversity of gcd-harboring PSB in the mineral topsoil from two temperate beech forests with contrasting P stocks, where girdling was applied and compared our data to the respective control plots with untreated young beech trees. At both sites, gcd-harboring PSB were dominated by Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria, however, with differences in relative abundance pattern on the higher phylogenetic levels. The P-poor site was characterized by a high relative abundance of Kaistia, whereas at the P-rich site, Dongia dominated the gcd-harboring bacterial communities. Girdling induced an increase in the relative abundance of Kaistia at the P-poor site, whereas other bacterial groups of the family Rhizobiaceae were reduced. At the P-rich site, major microbial responders differed between treatments and mostly Bradyrhizobium and Burkholderia were positively affected by girdling in contrast to uncultured Acidobacteria, where reduced relative abundance was found. Overall, these effects were consistent at different time points analyzed after the introduction of girdling. Our data demonstrate that plant-derived carbon influences community structure of gcd-harboring bacteria in temperate beech forest soils.

Keywords

beech; gcd gene; girdling; P solubilizing bacteria; quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase

Published in

Frontiers in forests and global change
2021, Volume: 4, article number: 696983
Publisher: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA

SLU Authors

• Spohn, Marie

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of Bayreuth

Associated SLU-program

SLU Plant Protection Network


UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.696983

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/117942