Abundance and community structure of ammonia-oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria in response to fertilization and mowing in a temperate steppe in Inner Mongolia.
Based on a 6-year field trial in a temperate steppe in Inner Mongolia, we investigated the effects of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilization and mowing on the abundance and community compositions of ammonia-oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) and Archaea (AOA) upon early (May) and peak (August) plant growth using quantitative PCR (qPCR), terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), cloning and sequencing. The results showed that N fertilization changed AOB community composition and increased AOB abundance in both May and August, but significantly decreased AOA abundance in May. By contrast, P fertilization significantly influenced AOB abundance only in August. Mowing significantly decreased AOA abundance and had little effect on AOA community compositions in May, while significantly influencing AOB abundance in both May and August, Moreover, AOA and AOB community structures showed obvious seasonal variations between May and August. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all AOA sequences fell into the Nitrososphaera cluster, and the AOB community was dominated by Nitrosospira Cluster 3. The results suggest that fertilization and mowing play important roles in affecting the abundance and community compositions of AOA and AOB.
State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Yong-Liang
YL
Chen
Hang-Wei
HW
Hu
Hong-Yan
HY
Han
Yue
Y
Du
Shi-Qiang
SQ
Wan
Zhu-Wen
ZW
Xu
Bao-Dong
BD
Chen
D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism*; D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002681:China; D005308:Fertilizers / Q000382:microbiology; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D058465:Nitrification; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012988:Soil Microbiology
D005308:Fertilizers; D000641:Ammonia
ammonia-oxidizing Archaea; ammonia-oxidizing Bacteria; fertilization; land management practices; mowing; nitrification