The core phoD-harboring bacteria promote wheat phosphorus uptake by enhancing alkaline phosphatase activity under long-term fertilization

Highlights

● Soil pH was the key factor influencing the phoD -harboring bacterial networks.

● Identification of a cluster positively linked to ALP activity and plant P uptake.

● Low soil pH resulted in a severe loss of phoD -harboring bacterial core cluster.

Abstract

Fertilization treatments profoundly influence the bacterial communities associated with soil organic phosphorus (P) mineralization and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. However, the relationships among the phoD-harboring bacterial communities associated with soil organic P mineralization, soil ALP activity, and plant P uptake under long-term fertilization remain unexplored. This study investigated these associations at the wheat rapid growth stage in a 40-year fertilization experiment. NPK fertilization led to a significant decrease in the diversity of phoD-harboring bacteria, which could be partially mitigated by the addition of organic materials. Soil pH emerged as the key factor influencing the structure and diversity of the phoD-harboring bacterial community. Furthermore, fertilizations involving manure additions resulted in more stable and cooperative phoD-harboring bacterial co-occurrence networks, compared to NPK fertilization. A functional phoD-harboring bacterial cluster, comprising genera Nostoc, Bradyrhizobium, and Pseudomonas, was identified, showing a positive association with soil ALP activity and plant P uptake. In summary, our study highlights the significant role of the identified core cluster of phoD-harboring bacteria in maintaining soil ALP activity and promoting plant P uptake, in decades of fertilization. Moreover, this study inferred a list of phoD-harboring bacterial genera from the core cluster, with established links to both plant P uptake and soil organic P mineralization. These findings offer valuable insights for sustainable agricultural practices.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

phoD-harboring bacteria / co-occurrence network / long-term fertilization / wheat phosphorus uptake

References

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dan Zhao, Di Wu and Luyao Song for their assistance in soil sampling. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42307402).

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s42832-024-0227-5 and is accessible for authorized users.

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