Biodiv Sci ›› 2023, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (9): 23131.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2023131

• Original Papers: Microbial Diversity • Previous Articles     Next Articles

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

Xiaomin Duan1,3, Jiajia Li1, Jingyu Li1,2,3,*(), Yannan Li1, Cunxia Yuan1, Yingna Wang1, Jianli Liu1,2,3   

  1. 1. College of Biological Science & Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan 750021
    2. Ningxia Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources Development and Applications in Special Environment, Yinchuan 750021
    3. Key Laboratory of Ecological Protection of Agro-pastoral Ecotones in the Yellow River Basin, National Ethnic Affairs Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Yinchuan 750021
  • Received:2023-04-26 Accepted:2023-08-08 Online:2023-09-20 Published:2023-08-29
  • Contact: *E-mail: lijingyu1986@126.com

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