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Denitrification potential under different fertilization regimes is closely coupled with changes in the denitrifying community in a black soil

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

Preferable inorganic fertilization over the last decades has led to fertility degradation of black soil in Northeast China. However, how fertilization regimes impact denitrification and its related bacterial community in this soil type is still unclear. Here, taking advantage of a suit of molecular ecological tools in combination of assaying the potential denitrification (DP), we explored the variation of activity, community structure, and abundance of nirS and nirK denitrifiers under four different fertilization regimes, namely no fertilization control (N0M0), organic pig manure (N0M1), inorganic fertilization (N1M0), and combination of inorganic fertilizer and pig manure (N1M1). The results indicated that organic fertilization increased DP, but inorganic fertilization had no impacts. The increase of DP was mirrored by the shift of nirS denitrifiers’ community structure but not by that of nirK denitrifiers’. Furthermore, the change of DP coincided with the variation of abundances of both denitrifiers. Shifts of community structure and abundance of nirS and nirK denitrifiers were correlated with the change of soil pH, total nitrogen (TN), organic matter (OM), C:P, total phosphorus (TP), and available phosphorus (Olsen P). Our results suggest that the change of DP under these four fertilization regimes was closely related to the shift of denitrifying bacteria communities resulting from the variation of properties in the black soil tested.

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Acknowledgments

This work was jointly supported by the grants from National Key Basic Research Support Foundation of China (NKBRSF) (Approved No. 2015CB150502), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Approved No. 41171208) and the 12th Five-Year Key Programs for Science and Technology Development of China “Study of Key Technologies for Alleviating Obstacle Factors and Improving Productivity of Low-yield Cropland” (Approved No. 2012BAD05B06). Thanks are given to Dr. Steven Wakelin from AgResearch Ltd, Lincoln Science Centre, New Zealand, for his careful reading of this manuscript. Thanks are also given to two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments that help improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Chang Yin, Fenliang Fan, Alin Song, Peiyuan Cui & Yongchao Liang

  2. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Tingqiang Li & Yongchao Liang

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  1. Chang Yin
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  2. Fenliang Fan
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Correspondence to Yongchao Liang.

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Yin, C., Fan, F., Song, A. et al. Denitrification potential under different fertilization regimes is closely coupled with changes in the denitrifying community in a black soil. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 5719–5729 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6461-0

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