Responses of the Soil Microbial Community to Salinity Stress in Maize Fields

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Soil microorganisms are the core of maintaining soil ecological functions. Recognition of microbial community diversity in saline soil contributes to nutrient management and crop production. Meanwhile, microbial activity is easily affected by changes in soil properties. This study addressed how the composition and diversity of bacterial and fungal communities changed under different saline conditions to identify the sensitivity of bacteria or fungi to salinity. The primary objective was to evaluate the relationship between soil’s microbial community diversity and soil’s physicochemical factors, and to explore the vital microbial predictors in salinized soil. The results showed that Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes are pivotal in salinized soil, and this finding can provide guidance for the demand for plant rhizosphere growth-promoting bacteria as a bioindicator in saline soil. ABSTRACT: To investigate the diversity and structure of soil bacterial and fungal communities in saline soils, soil samples with three increasing salinity levels (S1, S2 and S3) were collected from a maize field in Yanqi, Xinjiang Province, China. The results showed that the K(+), Na(+), Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) values in the bulk soil were higher than those in the rhizosphere soil, with significant differences in S2 and S3 (p < 0.05). The enzyme activities of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), invertase, urease and catalase (CAT) were lower in the bulk soil than those in the rhizosphere. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) demonstrated that the soil microbial community structure exhibited significant differences between different salinized soils (p < 0.001). Data implied that the fungi were more susceptible to salinity stress than the bacteria based on the Shannon and Chao1 indexes. Mantel tests identified Ca(2+), available phosphorus (AP), saturated electrical conductivity (EC(e)) and available kalium (AK) as the dominant environmental factors correlated with bacterial community structures (p < 0.001); and AP, urease, Ca(2+) and EC(e) as the dominant factors correlated with fungal community structures (p < 0.001). The relative abundances of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes showed positive correlations with the salinity gradient. Our findings regarding the bacteria having positive correlations with the level of salinization might be a useful biological indicator of microorganisms in saline soils.