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.