Comparison of Microbial Diversity of Two Typical Volcanic Soils in Wudalianchi, China

Abstract

Volcanic lava is an excellent model of primary succession, in which basalt-associated microorganisms drive the cycling of different elements such as nitrogen, carbon, and other nutrients. Microbial communities in volcanic soils are of particular interest for study on the emergence and evolution of life within special and extreme conditions. The initial processes of colonization and subsequent rock weathering by microbial communities are still poorly understood. We analyzed the soil bacterial and fungal communities and diversities associated with lava (LBL) and kipuka (BK) sites in Wudalianchi using 16S and ITS rRNA Illumina Miseq sequencing techniques. The results showed that soil physical and chemical properties (pH, MC, TOC, TN, TP, AP, DOC, and DON) significantly differed between LBL and BK. The Shannon, Ace, and Pd indexes of fungi in the two sites showed a significant difference (p < 0.05). The dominant bacterial phyla forming communities at LBL and BK sites were Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Basidiomycota, and their differences were driven by Gemmatimonadetes and Verrucomicrobia. The dominant fungal phyla of LBL and BK sites were Ascomycota, Zygomycota, and Rozellomcota, which differed significantly between the two sites. The microbial communities showed extremely significant differences (p < 0.05), with MC, pH, and nitrogen being the main influencing factors according to RDA/CCA and correlation analysis. Microbial functional prediction analysis across the two sites showed that the relative abundance of advantageous functional groups was significantly different (p < 0.05). The combined results drive us to conclude that the volcanic soil differences in the deposits appear to be the main factor shaping the microbial communities in Wudalianchi (WDLC) volcanic ecosystems.