Abstract
Purpose
NO3−-N reduction is the main way of soil nitrogen (N) loss, especially in saline-alkaline soil, and NO3−-N-reducing Fe(II) oxidation (NRFO) is an important but less known process for NO3−-N reduction. An anoxic cultivation experiment was carried out on coastal saline-alkaline paddy soil to determine the effect of the external environment on NRFO process and microbial community composition.
Methods
A laboratory cultivation experiment was studied to elucidate the effect of pH and acetate on NRFO in saline-alkaline soil. Nine different treatments were designed with two factors: (1) three pH levels: 7.5, 8.0, and 8.5; (2) three acetate concentrations: 15 (C1), 20 (C2), and 25 mM (C3). Concentration of Fe(II), Fe(III), NO3−-N, NO2−-N, and NH4+ and dynamic changes in microorganisms were assessed within 36 days.
Results
The reduction of NO3−-N showed a positive correlationship with Fe(II) oxidation and Fe(III) formation. In addition to Fe(II), acetate also participated in NO3−-N reduction as an electron donor. The reduction rate of NO3−-N was the highest in pH 8.5 + C3 treatment, in which the contribution of Fe(II) was 46.10%. The loss of NO3−-N was the least in pH 7.5 + C2 treatment, and the contribution of Fe(II) was 37.03%. Illumina high-throughput sequencing showed that the phyla of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were enriched in all treatments. The classes of Alphaproteobacteria, Bacilli, and Gammaproteobacteria were found to be the dominant in all treatments. Pseudomonas, a NO3−-N reduction bacteria, was dominant in pH 8.5 + C3 treatment, in which the relative abundance was 24%. Meanwhile, a Fe(II) oxidizing bacteria, Acidovorax, was dominant in the pH 8.5 + C1 treatment, and the relative abundance was 15%.
Conclusion
In coastal saline-alkaline paddy field, high C input and high pH (pH 8.5 + C3 treatment) could increase NO3−-N reduction, which might be the important reasons for N loss. Therefore, proper application of organic fertilizer and N fertilizer should be paid attention to in actual production in the Yellow River Delta.
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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
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Funding
This work was supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Projects, China (2017YFD0200200/2017YFD0200208-3), the Soil and Cultivation Position of Modern Agricultural Technology System Innovation Team in Shandong Province, China (SDAIT-17–05), and the Natural Science Fund of Shandong Province, China (ZR2020MC154).
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Conceptualization: Xiaodong Ding, Yinghui Jiang. Data curation: Yinghui Jiang, Xiaodong Ding. Formal analysis: Yinghui Jiang, Xiaodong Ding. Funding acquisition: Xiaodong Ding, Shirong Zhang. Investigation: Yinghui Jiang, Shirong Zhang, Ruxue Wei. Methodology: Yinghui Jiang, Xiaodong Ding. Software: Yinghui Jiang, Ruxue Wei. Writing-original draft: Yinghui Jiang, Xiaodong Ding, Shirong Zhang. Writing-review and editing: Yinghui Jiang, Shirong Zhang, Xiaodong Ding, Ruxue Wei.
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Jiang, Y., Zhang, S., Wei, R. et al. Microbial community changes during anaerobic nitrate reduction and Fe(II) oxidation of a coastal saline paddy soil under alkaline pH. J Soils Sediments 22, 2720–2730 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03247-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03247-3