Department of Soil and Water Conservation and Organic Waste Management, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CEBAS-CSIC, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 142 00 Prague, Czechia.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Nov 15;951:175571. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175571. Epub 2024 Aug 15.
Phosphorus (P) is essential for plants but often limited in soils, with microbes playing a key role in its cycling. P deficiency in crops can be mitigated by applying by-products like sludge and struvite to enhance yield and sustainability. Here, we evaluated the contribution of four different types of fertilizers: i) conventional NPK; ii) sludge; iii) struvite; and iv) struvite+sludge in a semiarid maize plantation to the availability of P and the responses of the soil microbiome. We investigated the effects of these treatments on the relative abundance of bacterial and archaeal genes and proteins related to organic P mineralization, inorganic P solubilization, and the P starvation response regulation through a multi-omic approach. Moreover, we explored the impact of maize phenology by collecting samples at germination and flowering stages. Our findings suggest that the phenological stage has a notable impact on the abundance of P cycle genes within bacterial and archaeal communities, particularly regarding the solubilization of inorganic P. Furthermore, significant variations were observed in the relative abundance of genes associated with different P cycles in response to various fertilizer treatments. Sludge and struvite application improved P availability, which was related to an increase in the relative abundance of Sphingomonas (Proteobacteria) and Luteitalea (Acidobacteria) respectively, and genes related to inorganic P solubilization. Furthermore, we observed a substantial taxonomic clustering of functional processes associated with the P cycle. Among the dominant bacterial populations containing P-related genes, those microbes possessing genes linked to the solubilization of inorganic P typically did not harbor genes associated with the mineralization of organic P. This phenomenon was particularly evident among members of Actinobacteria. Overall, we reveal important shifts in bacterial and archaeal communities and associated molecular processes, stressing the intricate interplay between fertilization, phenology, and P cycling in agroecosystems.
磷（P）是植物必需的，但通常在土壤中有限，微生物在其循环中起着关键作用。通过应用污泥和鸟粪石等副产品来缓解作物的 P 缺乏，可以提高产量和可持续性。在这里，我们评估了四种不同肥料的贡献：i）常规 NPK；ii）污泥；iii）鸟粪石；iv）鸟粪石+污泥，在半干旱玉米种植园中对 P 的有效性和土壤微生物组的响应。我们通过多组学方法研究了这些处理对与有机磷矿化、无机磷溶解和 P 饥饿反应调节相关的细菌和古菌基因和蛋白相对丰度的影响。此外，我们通过收集发芽期和开花期的样本，探讨了玉米物候期的影响。我们的研究结果表明，物候期对细菌和古菌群落中 P 循环基因的丰度有显著影响，特别是对无机 P 的溶解。此外，还观察到了不同肥料处理下与不同 P 循环相关的基因的相对丰度的显著变化。污泥和鸟粪石的应用提高了 P 的有效性，这与 Sphingomonas（变形菌门）和 Luteitalea（酸杆菌门）的相对丰度增加有关，以及与无机 P 溶解有关的基因。此外，我们观察到与 P 循环相关的功能过程的分类聚类。在含有 P 相关基因的主要细菌种群中，那些具有与无机 P 溶解相关基因的微生物通常不具有与有机 P 矿化相关的基因。这种现象在放线菌中尤为明显。总体而言，我们揭示了细菌和古菌群落以及相关分子过程的重要变化，强调了施肥、物候和农业生态系统中 P 循环之间的复杂相互作用。
