Microbial inoculants using spent mushroom substrates as carriers improve soil multifunctionality and plant growth by changing soil microbial community structure.

Peat is typically used as a carrier for microbial inoculants; however, due to its non-renewable nature alternatives need to be identified as reliable and renewable carriers for mineral-solubilizing inoculants. In pot experiments, solid microbial inoculants were comprised of peat (P), biochar (BC), and spent mushroom substrates (SMS) using Medicago sativa L. as experimental materials, and the purpose of this study is to assess the effect of solid microbial inoculants on soil multifunctionality and plant growth. The results revealed that the SMS microbial inoculant had the greatest positive impact on plant biomass and significantly stimulated soil multifunctionality which is typically managed or assessed based on various soil functions or processes that are crucial for sustaining productivity, in contrast to the peat microbial inoculant, particularly at a supply level of 100 g/pot. There was no significant correlation between soil multifunctionality and bacterial/fungal microbial diversity. However, according to the co-occurrence network of bacteria and fungi, soil multifunctionality was intimately correlated with the biodiversity of the main ecological clusters (modules) of bacteria and fungi, rather than to the entire soil microbial community structure. The keystone species of module hubs and connectors play critical roles in maintaining the stability of ecological clusters of microbial co-occurrence networks and linkages between ecological clusters. Soil pH is a major predictor of changes in plant biomass, and leads to changes therein by affecting the major ecological clusters of bacterial and fungal co-occurrence networks. These results suggested that SMS may serve as a good alternative to peat as a carrier of mineral-solubilizing microorganisms to maintain soil multifunctionality and promote plant growth.