Abstract:
This study investigated the effects of different application methods on soil microbial diversity and functional microbial structure in silage maize by soil microbial sequencing technology through a field experiment with a two-factor orthogonal design: compound fertilizer (C
1~C
3: 300, 525, 750 kg/hm
2) and urea (N
1~N
3: 150, 300, 450 kg/hm
2), including a nofertilizer control (CK). The results showed that in bacterial diversity, the Shannon index of the C
2N
3 treatment was significantly lower than that of CK. Simpson index decreased significantly in C
2N
2 and C
1N
3, while the Chao1 index of C
1N
3 was significantly higher than that of C
3N
1 and C
3N
3. The Chao1 and Shannon indices of C
2N
2 were significantly elevated compared to C
3N
2 (CK), and C
1N
2 in fungi. In community structure differences, PCoA revealed significant divergence between fertilized and CK groups in bacteria. Distinct clustering was observed between C
3N
1 and C
1N
1 in fungi. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, and Actinobacteriota were dominant taxa. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were predominant. LEfSe analysis showed that Acidobacteriota was enriched in C
3N
3, Proteobacteria in C
3N
1, Cyanobacteria in C
2N
3, and
Solirubrobacter in C
1N
1. In fungi,
Penicillium was enriched in C
2N
2, and
Aspergillus flavus in C
3N
2. Tax4Fun functional analysis revealed that carbohydrate metabolism, metabolism of other amino acids, metabolism of cofactors and vitamins, xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism, signal transduction and environmental adaptation have higher abundance in fertilization treatment groups. FUNGuild functional analysis revealed that the samples had high abundance of saprophytic and pathotrophic-saprophytic-symbiotic fungal trophic groups. Overall, the C
2N
2 treatment (525 kg/hm
2 compound fertilizer + 300 kg/hm
2 urea) was the best fertilization method for silage corn in the red soil area.