Wang Kang, Yuan Ning, Zhou Jia, Ni Hongwei
School of Geographical Sciences, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China.
Heilongjiang Academy of Forestry, Harbin 150081, China.
Microorganisms. 2024 Aug 14;12(8):1673. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12081673.
Earthworms are essential components in temperate forest ecosystems, yet the patterns of change in earthworm-associated microbial communities across different temperate forests remain unclear. This study employed high-throughput sequencing technology to compare bacterial community composition and structure in three earthworm-associated microhabitats (skin, gut, and habitat soil) across three typical temperate forests in China, and investigated the influence of environmental factors on these differential patterns. The results indicate that: (1) From warm temperate forests to cold temperate forests, the soil pH of the habitat decreased significantly. In contrast, the physicochemical properties of earthworm skin mucus exhibited different trends compared to those of the habitat soil. (2) Alpha diversity analysis revealed a declining trend in Shannon indices across all three microhabitats. (3) Beta diversity analysis revealed that the transition from warm temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest to cold temperate coniferous forest exerted the most significant impact on the gut bacterial communities of earthworms, while its influence on the skin bacterial communities was comparatively less pronounced. (4) and were the predominant phyla in earthworm skin, gut, and habitat soil, but the trends in bacterial community composition differed among the three microhabitats. (5) Mantel tests revealed significant correlations between bacterial community structures and climatic factors, physicochemical properties of earthworm habitat soil, and physicochemical properties of earthworm skin mucus. The findings of this study offer novel perspectives on the interplay between earthworms, microorganisms, and the environment within forest ecosystems.
蚯蚓是温带森林生态系统的重要组成部分，但不同温带森林中与蚯蚓相关的微生物群落的变化模式仍不明确。本研究采用高通量测序技术，比较了中国三种典型温带森林中三个与蚯蚓相关的微生境（皮肤、肠道和栖息地土壤）中的细菌群落组成和结构，并研究了环境因素对这些差异模式的影响。结果表明：（1）从暖温带森林到寒温带森林，栖息地的土壤pH值显著下降。相比之下，蚯蚓皮肤黏液的理化性质与栖息地土壤呈现出不同的趋势。（2）α多样性分析表明，所有三个微生境中的香农指数均呈下降趋势。（3）β多样性分析表明，从暖温带落叶阔叶林向寒温带针叶林的转变对蚯蚓肠道细菌群落的影响最为显著，而对皮肤细菌群落的影响相对较小。（4） 和 是蚯蚓皮肤、肠道和栖息地土壤中的优势门类，但三个微生境中细菌群落组成的趋势有所不同。（5）Mantel检验表明，细菌群落结构与气候因素、蚯蚓栖息地土壤的理化性质以及蚯蚓皮肤黏液的理化性质之间存在显著相关性。本研究结果为森林生态系统中蚯蚓、微生物和环境之间的相互作用提供了新的视角。
