Microorganisms regulate soil phosphorus fractions in response to low nocturnal temperature by altering pqqC gene abundance and diversity rather than phoD gene

Temperature is essential for regulating microbial activity and metabolic functions, particularly during the cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients in terrestrial ecosystems. Since the maintenance of nucleic acid phosphorus and metabolic phosphorus concentrations plays an important role in plant growth at low temperatures, the effect of low temperatures on the function of microbial phosphorus metabolism may alter soil phosphorus turnover, plant uptake and thus importantly determine its growth. However, how low nocturnal temperature affect the mineralization and turnover of soil phosphorus fractions by regulating the composition of phoD and pqqC harboring bacterial communities encoding phosphatases and organic acids, and the abundance of associated genes, it is largely unknown. To address this issue, a 40-day indoor incubation experiment was used to investigate the effects of four nocturnal temperature gradients on phoD and pqqC harboring microbial community structure and the number of associated genes and soil phosphorus fractions.