Microbial communities in soil aggregates in maize rhizosphere and beyond in Soil columns. Maize_rhizosphere_soil_aggregate_prokaryote_communities

Soil aggregates are spatial entities in which the likelihood of interactions between the microorganisms is higher than at larger scales. In this study, soil columns were used to grow two genotypes of maize, a wild type and a root hairless mutant to evaluate the spatial effects on microbial community structure in the rhizosphere of maize roots and beyond in bulk soil. Rhizosphere and bulk soil are characterized by contrasting microbial habitat conditions in regard to the abundance of energy rich carbon sources and nitrogen, the first higher in the rhizosphere, the latter higher in bulk soil.

土壤团聚体（soil aggregates）是一类空间结构体，相较于更大尺度的环境，其中微生物间互作的发生概率显著更高。本研究采用土柱（soil columns）栽培法，种植两种基因型玉米：野生型与根毛缺失突变体，以此探究空间分布对玉米根际（rhizosphere）及非根际土（bulk soil）中微生物群落结构的影响。根际与非根际土的微生物生境条件差异显著，就富能碳源与氮素的丰度而言，根际的富能碳源丰度更高，而非根际土的氮素丰度则更高。