Fungi Dominated the Incorporation of 13C-CO2 into Microbial Biomass in Tomato Rhizosphere Soil under Different CO2 Concentrations

Abstract

An elevated CO2 (eCO2) fumigation experiment was carried out to study the influence of various CO2 concentrations on microorganisms involved in the incorporation of root-derived C in greenhouse soil systems. In this study, 400 and 800 µmol·mol−1 CO2 fumigation treatments were conducted during tomato planting. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiling based on the stable isotope probing (SIP) technique was applied to trace active microorganisms. The absolute total abundance of 13C-PLFAs was much higher under eCO2 treatment. Most of the 13C-CO2 was incorporated into the 13C-PLFAs 18:2ω6,9 (fungi), 16:0 (general PLFA), 18:1ω9c (Gram-negative bacteria, G−) and i17:0 (Gram-positive bacteria, G+) via rhizodeposition from tomato under ambient CO2 (aCO2) and eCO2 treatments, suggesting similar responses of active microorganisms to different CO2 treatments. However, the fungi (characterized by the 13C-PLFA 18:2ω6,9) played a much more dominant role in the incorporation of root-derived C under eCO2. Actinomycetes, marked by the 13C-PLFA 10-Me-18:0, occurred only on labeling day 15 under the eCO2 treatment, indicating that the actinomycetes fed on both soil organic carbon and fresh rhizodeposition. It was indicated that eCO2 significantly affected microbial biomass and microbial community structures involved in the incorporation of 13C-CO2 via tomato root secretions, as supported by Adonis analysis and the Mantel test.