Abstract
Background and aims
Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) possess significant potential for enhancing soil phosphorus bioavailability, but their efficacy may be constrained by carbon and nitrogen availability. Algae exhibit synergistic interactions with bacteria through producing active organic carbon. However, the influence of algae and PSB together on phosphorus bioavailability under varying nitrogen levels remains unclear.
Methods
We conducted a microcosm experiment to explore the effects of applying Chlorella-Bacillus biofertilizer, along with various nitrate addition amounts, on both soil microbial community composition and phosphorus bioavailability. In addition, we employed a co-culture of Chlorella and Bacillus with different nitrogen concentrations to investigate the possible effects of nitrate addition on the production of organic anions and phosphatases of the Chlorella-Bacillus communities by using metabolomic analysis.
Results
Chlorella-Bacillus biofertilizer significantly increased soil Olsen-P concentration via strong interactive effects correlating with the various nitrate addition amounts in the microcosm experiment. These effects were due mainly to reducing the algal diversity, soil pH, and changing dissolved organic matter (DOM) characteristics, especially increasing the humification index (HIX). The metabolomic analyses of co-culture confirm that pathways related to the biosynthesis of fatty acids and phosphatases production are enhanced when nitrogen levels are high.
Conclusion
Chlorella-Bacillus biofertilizer has significantly interactive effects with nitrate addition on soil phosphorus bioavailability by influencing soil DOM, pH and production of organic anions and phosphatases. These insights are useful for optimizing bio-fertilizer-nitrate combinations for increasing phosphorus bioavailability thereby reducing chemical fertilizer requirements.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant numbers 41825021, 42377343, 41977101), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant number 2023YFD1901304), the Nature Science Foundation for Excellent Young Scholars of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant number BK20200057).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Junzhuo Liu, Ying Lu, Haiying Lu and Lirong Wu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Junzhuo Liu and Ying Lu and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Liu, J., Lu, Y., Lu, H. et al. Chlorella-Bacillus biofertilizers interact with varying nitrate addition amounts to increase soil phosphorus bioavailability. Plant Soil (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-024-06574-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-024-06574-1