Microbial community diversity among different soil particle sizes of mossy biocrusts-soil continuum in the southeastern Tengger Desert

doi:10.17520/biods.2023131

Abstract

Abstract:

Aim: Moss biocrust formation means the stable crust development of soils in arid and semiarid regions; they participate in the material cycle and energy flow of desert ecosystems and provide a microhabitat for the maintenance of microbial diversity. The microbial diversity of soil with different particle sizes in moss biocrusts-soil continuum is of great significance for understanding the ecological process of moss biocrusts.

Method: In this study, we used Illumina MiSeq techniques to analyze the microbial diversity and community structure of different soil particle sizes in moss biocrusts-soil continuum and biocrust sublayer.

Results: A total of 10,730 bacterial amplicon sequence variant (ASVs) and 3,035 fungal ASVs were obtained by sequencing. The α diversity index of the bacterial community was lower in the moss biocrust adhesion soil than in the biocrust layer, while the α diversity index of the fungal community was significantly higher in the moss biocrust adhesion soil than in different soil particle sizes in moss biocrust sifting soil and biocrust sublayer. The common bacterial phyla of the moss biocrusts were Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes, while the common bacterial phyla of the biocrust sublayer soil were Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria. The common fungal phyla of the moss biocrust and biocrust layers included Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota was higher in the moss biocrust adhesion soil than in moss biocrust sifting soil and biocrust sublayer. Significant differences of relative abundance in the bacterial communities of Microvirga, Rubrobacter, Bryobacter, Solirubrobacter, Geodermatophilus, Sphingomonas, Nocardioides, Rubellimicrobium, Blastococcus and Modestobacter occurred between the moss biocrust adhesion soil and the moss biocrust sifting soil with different particle sizes. There were significant differences of relative abundance in the fungal communities of Aspergillus, Knufia, Darksidea, Entoloma, Monosporascus, Bhatiellae, Didymella, Alternaria, Cladosporiumand Fusarium between the moss biocrust adhesion soil and the moss biocrust sifting soil with different particle sizes. The results of the cooccurrence network showed that there was more complex connectivity in the rhizosphere of the mossy biocrusts than in the bulk soil and mossy biocrust sublayer.

Conclusion: These results are helpful to explore the changing rule of microbial diversity of biological soil crust participating in biogeochemical cycle of desert ecosystem at microenvironment scale.

Key words: mossy biocrusts-soil continuum, soil particle size, bacterial community diversity, fungal community diversity

Xiaomin Duan, Jiajia Li, Jingyu Li, Yannan Li, Cunxia Yuan, Yingna Wang, Jianli Liu. Microbial community diversity among different soil particle sizes of mossy biocrusts-soil continuum in the southeastern Tengger Desert[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2023, 31(9): 23131.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2023131

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2023/V31/I9/23131

Figures/Tables 9

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of soil treatment with different particle sizes of mossy biocrusts and biocrust sublayer. BS0.5, The soil of mossy crust sublayer with particle size greater than 0.5 mm and less than 1 mm; BS0.2, The soil of mossy crust sublayer with particle size greater than 0.2 mm and less than 0.5 mm; BS, The soil of mossy biocrust sublayer with particle size less than 0.2 mm; BSS0.2, The sifting soil of mossy biocrust layer with particle size greater than 0.2 mm and less than 1 mm; BSS, The sifting soil of mossy biocrust layer with particle size less than 0.2 mm; BAS, The adhesion soil of mossy biocrust layer with particle size less than 0.3 mm.

Table 1 Physicochemical properties of soil in this study

样品 Sample	硝态氮 Nitrate nitrogen (mg/kg)	铵态氮 Ammonium nitrogen (mg/kg)	全氮 Total nitrogen (g/kg)	有机碳 Organic carbon (g/kg)	全磷 Total phosphorus (g/kg)
藓结皮下层土 Mossy biocrust sublayer soil (BS)	2.462 ± 2.569^b	0.762 ± 0.016^b	0.076 ± 0.000^c	2.066 ± 0.231^c	0.140 ± 0.000^b
藓结皮抖落土 Mossy biocrust sifting soil (BSS)	2.756 ± 3.001^b	0.732 ± 0.007^b	0.158 ± 0.000^b	3.834 ± 0.116^b	0.178 ± 0.000^a
藓结皮附着土 Mossy biocrust adhesion soil (BAS)	4.981 ± 0.929^a	1.162 ± 0.038^a	0.240 ± 0.000^a	7.398 ± 0.196^a	0.190 ± 0.000^a

Fig. 2 α diversity of soil microbial communities on different particle sizes of mossy biocrusts. α diversity of bacterial communities: (a) Sobs index; (b) Chao 1 index; (c) Shannon index; (d) Simpson index. α diversity of fungal communities: (e) Sobs index; (f) Chao 1 index; (g) Shannon index; (h) Simpson index. The meanings of BS0.5, BS0.2, BS, BSS0.2, BSS and BAS are shown in Fig. 1. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (P < 0.05) in soil microbial diversity across soil particle sizes of mossy biocrusts.

Fig. 3 The community structure of soil bacteria and fungi on different particle sizes of mossy biocrusts. (a) The community structure of bacterial phyla; (b) The community structure of fungal phyla; (c) The community structure of bacterial genera; (d) The community structure of fungal genera. The meanings of BS0.5, BS0.2, BS, BSS0.2, BSS and BAS are shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 Venn diagram and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of soil bacterial and fungal communities in mossy biocrusts with different particle sizes. (a) Bacterial Venn diagram; (b) Fungal Venn diagram; (c) Bacterial PCoA analysis; (d) Fungal PCoA analysis. The meanings of BS0.5, BS0.2, BS, BSS0.2, BSS and BAS are shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 Differences in the relative abundance of important soil bacteria and fungi based on genus level in mossy biocrusts with different particle sizes. (a) Bacteria; (b) Fungi. The meanings of BS0.5, BS0.2, BS, BSS0.2, BSS and BAS are shown in Fig. 1. P < 0.01 indicates significant difference.

Fig. 6 Relative abundance differences between mossy biocrusts and biocrust sublayer’s microbial communities based on genus level. (a) Bacteria; (b) Fungi. B, Biocrust layer (BSS0.2, BSS and BAS); BS, Biocrust sublayer (BS0.5, BS0.2 and BS); P < 0.01 indicates significant difference.

Table 2 Parameters of soil microbial network for different particle sizes of mossy biocrusts

	属性 Property	BS_0.5	BS_0.2	BS	BSS_0.2	BSS	BAS
细菌 Bacteria	边 Edge	1,511	787	915	816	1,104	1,564
	节点 Note	194	162	170	158	182	196
	平均聚类数 Average clustering coefficient	0.609	0.546	0.538	0.576	0.551	0.547
	密度 Density	0.081	0.06	0.064	0.066	0.067	0.082
	平均路径长度 Average path length	3.681	3.936	3.765	3.833	3.657	3.574
	平均度 Average degree	15.77	9.716	10.765	10.329	12.132	15.959
真菌 Fungi	边 Edge	64	46	72	110	249	397
	节点 Note	38	37	46	64	90	94
	平均聚类数 Average clustering coefficient	0.721	0.548	0.608	0.561	0.522	0.565
	密度 Density	0.091	0.069	0.608	0.055	0.062	0.091
	平均路径长度 Average path length	2.217	4.133	3.826	5.430	4.448	3.970
	平均度 Average degree	3.368	2.486	3.13	3.438	5.533	8.447

Fig. 7 Soil microbial co-occurrence network with different particle sizes in mossy biocrusts. The red edges represent positive correlation, the green edges represent negative correlation; The meanings of BS0.5, BS0.2, BS, BSS0.2, BSS and BAS are shown in Fig. 1.

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