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Impact of root exudates on soil reconstruction and bacterial community resumption in open-pit coal mines

Yang, Zhuo ; Niu, Jianzhi ; Wu, Tong ; Li, Jiaqi ; Zhang, Linus LU orcid ; Chen, Xiongwen and Berndtsson, Ronny LU orcid (2025) In Frontiers in Microbiology Volume 16 - 2025.
Abstract
Open-pit coal mine reconstructed ecosystems are ecologically fragile. Retained early stage topsoil is usually not enough to maintain plant growth. For this purpose, we used root exudates to fertilize the reconstructed soil and improve the functioning of the soil microorganism ecology. The roots’ exudates increased the concentration of organic matter and total nitrogen by 16–39%. Within a certain concentration range, the higher the concentration of root exudate, the higher the soil fertility. When the concentration of root exudate was 85%, the bacterial abundance decreased. The soil inorganic nitrogen N-NH4+ and N-NO3− increased significantly by 11–21%. This significantly improved root growth and plant biomass for the reconstructed soil.... (More)
Open-pit coal mine reconstructed ecosystems are ecologically fragile. Retained early stage topsoil is usually not enough to maintain plant growth. For this purpose, we used root exudates to fertilize the reconstructed soil and improve the functioning of the soil microorganism ecology. The roots’ exudates increased the concentration of organic matter and total nitrogen by 16–39%. Within a certain concentration range, the higher the concentration of root exudate, the higher the soil fertility. When the concentration of root exudate was 85%, the bacterial abundance decreased. The soil inorganic nitrogen N-NH4+ and N-NO3− increased significantly by 11–21%. This significantly improved root growth and plant biomass for the reconstructed soil. The dominating bacterial community was driven by both root exudate components and plant root growth. Especially, the abundance of soil bacteria Actinobacteriota, Proteobacteria, and Chloroflexi was significantly promoted. Consequently, root exudates can be used to efficiently increase the soil fertility and improve the function and vegetation restoration in the soil reconstruction of mines. (Less)
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Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Frontiers in Microbiology
volume
Volume 16 - 2025
pages
13 pages
publisher
Frontiers Media S. A.
ISSN
1664-302X
DOI
10.3389/fmicb.2025.1466452
language
Unknown
LU publication?
yes
id
a81f3c1a-274c-4baf-9911-0a1c679e22ca
date added to LUP
2025-08-07 15:25:28
date last changed
2025-08-13 10:45:18
@article{a81f3c1a-274c-4baf-9911-0a1c679e22ca,
  abstract     = {{Open-pit coal mine reconstructed ecosystems are ecologically fragile. Retained early stage topsoil is usually not enough to maintain plant growth. For this purpose, we used root exudates to fertilize the reconstructed soil and improve the functioning of the soil microorganism ecology. The roots’ exudates increased the concentration of organic matter and total nitrogen by 16–39%. Within a certain concentration range, the higher the concentration of root exudate, the higher the soil fertility. When the concentration of root exudate was 85%, the bacterial abundance decreased. The soil inorganic nitrogen N-NH4+ and N-NO3− increased significantly by 11–21%. This significantly improved root growth and plant biomass for the reconstructed soil. The dominating bacterial community was driven by both root exudate components and plant root growth. Especially, the abundance of soil bacteria Actinobacteriota, Proteobacteria, and Chloroflexi was significantly promoted. Consequently, root exudates can be used to efficiently increase the soil fertility and improve the function and vegetation restoration in the soil reconstruction of mines.}},
  author       = {{Yang, Zhuo and Niu, Jianzhi and Wu, Tong and Li, Jiaqi and Zhang, Linus and Chen, Xiongwen and Berndtsson, Ronny}},
  issn         = {{1664-302X}},
  language     = {{und}},
  publisher    = {{Frontiers Media S. A.}},
  series       = {{Frontiers in Microbiology}},
  title        = {{Impact of root exudates on soil reconstruction and bacterial community resumption in open-pit coal mines}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1466452}},
  doi          = {{10.3389/fmicb.2025.1466452}},
  volume       = {{Volume 16 - 2025}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}