Soil Microbial Community Structure in Diverse Land Use Systems: A Comparative Study Using Biolog, DGGE, and PLFA Analyses*1

Biolog, 16S rRNA gene denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analyses were used to assess soil microbial community characteristics in a chronosequence of tea garden systems (8-, 50-, and 90 year-old tea gardens), an adjacent wasteland, and a 90-year-old forest. Biolog analysis showed that the average well color development (AWCD) of all carbon sources and the functional diversity based on the Shannon index decreased (P < 0.05) in the following order: wasteland > forest > tea garden. For the DGGE analysis, the genetic diversity based on the Shannon index was significantly lower in the tea garden soils than in the wasteland. However, compared to the 90-year-old forest, the tea garden soils showed significantly higher genetic diversity. PLFA analysis showed that the ratio of Gram positive bacteria to Gram negative bacteria was significantly higher in the tea garden soils than in the wasteland, and the highest value was found in the 90-year-old forest. Both the fungal PLFA and the ratio of fungi to bacteria were significantly higher in the three tea garden soils than in the wasteland and forest, indicating that fungal PLFA was significantly affected by land-use change. Based on cluster analysis of the soil microbial community structure, all three analytical methods showed that land-use change had a greater effect on soil microbial community structure than tea garden age.