Community assembly and functional potential of habitat generalists and habitat specialists in typical paddy soil of China

Great differences exist in the utilization of carbon and nutrients between habitat generalists and habitat specialists, which play unique roles in the cycle of soil energy and nutrients. At present, the research on farmland microorganisms mainly focuses on the whole bacteria, fungi, archaea or other functional communities, and the understanding of habitat generalists and habitat specialists in farmland ecosystems is still lacking. Therefore, in order to explore the community structure, assembly pattern and possible functions of habitat generalists and habitat specialists in typical paddy soils in eastern and southwestern of China, 16 soil surface samples (0-20cm) were collected from eastern area (Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai) and southwestern area (Yunnan and Guizhou) of China according to the data of the second soil survey, and their physical and chemical properties and next generation high-throughput sequencing were analyzed.In this study, the community structure, environmental driving factors, assembly process, co-occurrence network characteristics and related functions of nitrogen metabolism of habitat generalists and habitat specialists in the surface soil of typical paddy fields in China were studied at the level of bacterial sub-community, which provided theoretical basis for the evolution and regulation of bacterial communities in paddy fields.

生境广适种（habitat generalists）与生境特化种（habitat specialists）对碳与营养物质的利用模式存在显著差异，二者在土壤能量与营养循环中发挥着独特作用。当前针对农田微生物的研究多聚焦于细菌、真菌、古菌或其他功能类群整体，而对农田生态系统中生境广适种与生境特化种的认知仍较为匮乏。为此，为探究我国东部与西南地区典型稻田生境广适种与生境特化种的群落结构、组装模式及其潜在功能，本研究依据第二次全国土壤普查数据，从我国东部区域（安徽、江苏、上海）及西南区域（云南、贵州）采集了16份0-20cm表层土壤样品，并对其理化性质与下一代高通量测序（next generation high-throughput sequencing）结果进行了分析。本研究以细菌亚群落为研究尺度，剖析了我国典型稻田表层土壤中生境广适种与生境特化种的群落结构、环境驱动因子、组装过程、共现网络特征及氮代谢相关功能，为稻田细菌群落的演化与调控提供了理论依据。