Long term impact of mineral amendment on the distribution of the mineral weathering associated bacterial communities from the beech Scleroderma citrinum ectomycorrhizosphere

Liming is a known forest management procedure used to amend nutrient-poor soils such as soils of acidic forests to rectify cation deficiencies and to restore soil pH. However, although this procedure is well known for its beneficial effect on the forest trees, its relative impact on the functional and taxonomic diversity of the soil bacterial communities has been poorly investigated. In this study, we characterized the ability of the soil bacteria to weather soil minerals and to hydrolyze chitin. A collection of 80 bacterial strains was isolated from the Scleroderma citrinum ectomycorrhizosphere and the adjacent bulk soil in two stands of mature beeches (Fagus sylvatica) developed on very acidic soil and presenting two levels of calcium (Ca) availability: a control plot as well as a plot amended with Ca in 1973. All the bacterial isolates were identified by partial 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis as members of the genera Burkholderia, Bacillus, Dyella, Kitasatospora, Micrococcus, Paenibacillus, Pseudomonas, and Rhodanobacter. Using a microplate assay for quantifying the production of protons and the quantity of iron released from biotite, we demonstrated that the bacterial strains from the amended plot harbored a significant higher mineral weathering potential that the ones isolated from the control plot. Notably, the weathering efficacy of the ectomycorrhizosphere bacterial isolates was significantly greater than that of the bulk soil isolates in the control treatment but not in the amended plot. These data reveal that forest management, here mineral amendment, can strongly affect the structure of bacterial communities even over the long term.

► The mineral weathering and chitinolytic abilities of forest soil bacteria were tested.
► Bacteria were isolated under amened and non-amended beech stands.
► Bacteria from the amended stands appeared more efficient at mineral weathering.
► Land management affects the bacterial communities even over the long term.