Response of soil bacterial community structure to different reclamation years of abandoned salinized farmland in arid China

Comparison of Soil Bacterial Communities under Canopies of Pinus tabulaeformis and Populus euramericana in a Reclaimed Waste Dump

To compare the effects of different remediation tree species on soil bacterial communities and provide a theoretical basis for the selection of ecosystem function promotion strategies after vegetation restoration, the characteristic changes in soil bacterial communities after Pinus tabulaeformis and Populus euramericana reclamation were explored using high-throughput sequencing and molecular ecological network methods. The results showed that: (1) With the increase in reclamation years, the reclaimed soil properties were close to the control group, and the soil properties of Pinus tabulaeformis were closer to the control group than those of P. euramericana. (2) The dominant bacteria under the canopies of P. tabulaeformis and P. euramericana was the same. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes, Planctomycetes, Bacteroidetes, and Cyanobacteria were the dominant bacteria in the restored soil, accounting for more than 95% of the total abundance. The average values of the Shannon diversity index, Simpson diversity index, Chao 1 richness estimator, and abundance-based coverage estimator of the bacterial community in the P. euramericana reclaimed soil were higher than those in the P. tabulaeformis reclaimed soil. The influence of reclamation years on the bacterial community of samples is greater than that of species types. (3) The results of ecological network construction showed that the total number of nodes, total number of connections, and average connectivity of the soil bacterial network under P. euramericana reclamation were greater than those under P. tabulaeformis reclamation. The bacterial molecular ecological network under P. euramericana was more abundant. (4) Among the dominant bacteria, the relative abundance of Actinobacteria was negatively correlated with soil pH, soil total nitrogen content, and the activities of urease, invertase, and alkaline phosphatase, while the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes was positively correlated with these environmental factors. The relationship between the soil bacterial community of P. tabulaeformis and P. euramericana and the environmental factors is not completely the same, and even the interaction between some environmental factors and bacteria is opposite.

Effects of Land Reclamation on Soil Bacterial Community and Potential Functions in Bauxite Mining Area

Studying the characteristics of microorganisms in mine reclamation sites can provide a scientific reference basis for mine land reclamation. Soils in the plough layer (0-20 cm) of the bauxite mine plots in Pingguo city, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, with different reclamation years were used as the research objects. The community structure of soil bacteria was analyzed with high-throughput sequencing technology. The results show the following: (1) Reclamation significantly increased the contents of soil nutrients (p < 0.05). (2) The relative abundances of Proteobacteria were high (22.90~41.56%) in all plots, and reclamation significantly reduced the relative abundances of Firmicutes (3.42-10.77%) compared to that in the control plot (24.74%) (p < 0.05). The relative abundances of α-proteobacteria generally increased while the reclamation year increased. The relative abundances of α-proteobacteria and γ-proteobacteria showed significant positive correlations with soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus nutrients (p < 0.01). The relative abundance of Acidobacteria Group 6 showed significant positive correlations with soil exchangeable Ca and Mg (p < 0.01). (3) Bacterial co-occurrence network showed more Copresence interactions in all plots (50.81-58.39%). The reclaimed plots had more nodes, higher modularity, and longer characteristic path length than the control plot, and the keystone taxa changed in different plots. (4) The chemoheterotrophy and aerobic chemoheterotrophy were the most abundant functional groups in all plots (35.66-48.26%), while reclamation reduced the relative abundance of fermentation groups (1.75-11.21%). The above findings indicated that reclamation improved soil nutrients, changed the bacterial community structure and potential functions, and accelerated the microbial stabilization of the reclaimed soil.

Alkaline Salt Inhibits Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Canola More Than Neutral Salt

Salinity is a major constraint to crop growth and productivity, limiting sustainable agriculture production. Planting canola (Brassica napus L.) variety with salinity-alkalinity tolerance as a green manure on the large area of salinity-affected land in Xinjiang could alleviate feed shortage. To investigate the differential effects of neutral and alkaline salt stress on seed germination and seedling growth of canola, we used two salts at varying concentrations, i.e., NaCl (neutral salt at 100, 150, and 200 mM) and Na₂CO₃ (alkaline salt at 20, 30, and 40 mM). To further explore the effects of Na⁺ and pH on seed germination, we included combined of NaCl (0, 100, 150, and 200 mM) and pH (7.1, 8.0, 9.0, 10.0, and 11.0). Shoot growth was promoted by low concentrations of NaCl and Na₂CO₃ but inhibited at high salt concentrations. Given the same Na⁺ concentration, Na₂CO₃ inhibited seed germination and seedling growth more than NaCl. The results showed that the main factor affecting seed germination and seedling growth is not pH alone, but the interaction between pH and salt ions. Under NaCl stress, canola increased the absorption of K⁺, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺ in roots and K⁺ in leaves. However, under Na₂CO₃ stress, canola maintained a high K⁺ concentration and K⁺/Na⁺ ratio in leaves and increased Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ in roots. Our study showed that alkaline salts inhibit canola seed germination and seedling growth more significantly than neutral salts and salt species, salt concentration, and pH significantly affected on seed germination and seedling growth. However, pH affected seed germination and seedling growth mainly through an interaction with salt ions.

Physiological, proteomic, and metabolomic analysis provide insights into Bacillus sp.-mediated salt tolerance in wheat

Herein, the inoculation with strain wp-6 promoted the growth of wheat seedlings by improving the energy production and conversion of wheat seedlings and alleviating salt stress. Soil salinization decreases crop productivity due to high toxicity of sodium ions to plants. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been demonstrated to alleviate salinity stress. However, the mechanism of PGPR in improving plant salt tolerance remains unclear. In this study, physiological analysis, proteomics, and metabolomics were applied to investigate the changes in wheat seedlings under salt stress (150 mM NaCl), both with and without plant root inoculation with wp-6 (Bacillus sp.). Under salt stress, root inoculation with strain wp-6 increased plant biomass (57%) and root length (25%). The Na⁺ content was reduced, while the K⁺ content and K⁺/Na⁺ ratio were increased. The content of malondialdehyde was decreased by 31.94% after inoculation of wp-6 under salt stress, while the content of proline, soluble sugar, and soluble protein were increased by 7.48%, 12.34%, and 4.12%, respectively. The peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase activities were increased after inoculation of wp-6 under salt stress. Galactose metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, caffeine metabolism, ubiquinone and other terpenoid-quinone biosynthesis, and glutathione metabolism might play an important role in promoting the growth of salt-stressed wheat seedlings after the inoculation with wp-6. Interaction analysis of differentially expressed proteins and metabolites found that energy production and transformation-related proteins and six metabolites (D-arginine, palmitoleic acid, chlorophyllide b, rutin, pheophorbide a, and vanillylamine) were mainly involved in the growth of wheat seedlings after the inoculation with wp-6 under salt stress. Furthermore, correlation analysis found that inoculation with wp-6 promotes the growth of salt-stressed wheat seedlings mainly through regulating amino acid metabolism and porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism. This study provides an eco-friendly method to increase agricultural productivity and paves a way to sustainable agriculture.

Response of Soil Properties and Microbial Communities to Increasing Salinization in the Meadow Grassland of Northeast China

Secondary salinization is a serious environmental issue and a major threat to the sustainable use of grasslands. Information about the response of microbial communities and soil properties in already saline soils to increasing salinity is lacking. We investigated soil properties and the structures of soil bacterial and fungal communities across a gradient of salinization in the Horqin Grassland, China. Three sites with relatively lightly (average soluble salt content = 0.11%), relatively moderately (average soluble salt content = 0.44%), and heavily (average soluble salt content = 1.07%) degraded grassland, were selected as experimental sites. We examined variations in the composition and structure of the soil bacterial and fungal communities by using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S and 18S rRNA genes, respectively. We found degrading effects of salinization on soil properties, i.e., decreased soil moisture, organic matter, total N, NH₄-N, and NO₃-N and increased soil bulk density, pH, and electrical conductivity. The bacterial and fungal community structures changed with increasing salinity. However, dominant microbial taxa (including phylum, genus, and operational taxonomic unit levels) were similar among experimental sites, indicating that increasing salinization slightly affected the basic compositions of microbial communities in already saline grasslands. Furthermore, the relative abundances of most dominant taxa sensitively responded to the soil salt content. Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, RB4, Rubrobacter, Blastocatella, H16, Glomeromycota, and Aspergillus linearly increased with increasing salinization, suggesting that they could be used as bioindicators for salt-tolerant communities. Overall, the changes in the structures of soil bacterial and fungal communities were determined by the relative quantities of dominant taxa rather than community composition. The structures of soil bacterial and fungal communities were linked to soil properties and vegetation. Increasing soil salt content, and thereby varied pH and organic matter, were likely the direct influencing factors of microbial communities in these saline grasslands.