ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Terrestrial Microbiology
This article is part of the Research TopicMicrobe-Environment Interaction Across Grassland Ecosystems: Soil Microbial Diversity, Plant-Microbe Interplay, and Ecosystem FunctionalityView all 9 articles
Artificial Grassland Establishment Alters Soil Organic Carbon Fractions and cbbL-Type Carbon-Sequestering Microbial Communities
Provisionally accepted
- Xinjiang Agricultural University, Ürümqi, China
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This study investigated the effects of establishing artificial grasslands—comparing grassy (GG) and leguminous (LG) types against adjacent cropland (CK)—on soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions and the community of cbbL-type carbon-fixing microorganisms in the arid region of Urumqi, Xinjiang, China. Our findings revealed that mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) content was significantly higher in GG than in CK and LG. Although the proportion of particulate organic carbon (POC) was higher in CK, its absolute content was lowest in LG. Cumulative carbon mineralization was significantly lower in CK than in GG and LG (P < 0.05). Regarding the cbbL-type microbial community, LG showed the highest gene abundance, suggesting a strong carbon sequestration potential. A total of 47,026 bacterial amplicon sequence variants were identified, predominantly from the phyla Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, with facultative autotrophs as the dominant functional group. Compared to CK, both grassland types increased the relative abundance of Actinobacteria but decreased that of Planctomycetes. At the genus level, LG significantly enriched SinoRhizobium and MesoRhizobium, whereas GG promoted Microvirga and Bradyrhizobium. Mantel tests identified soil pH, the proportions of soil aggregates (>2 mm, 2–0.25 mm, and <0.053 mm), electrical conductivity, and MAOC content as the key environmental factors shaping the carbon-fixing microbial community. These results advance our understanding of how artificial grasslands regulate SOC dynamics and associated microbial communities, offering a scientific basis for enhancing ecological restoration and soil carbon sequestration in arid regions.
Keywords: Artificial grassland establishment, Particulate organic carbon (POC), mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC), CbbL gene, Carbon Sequestration, microbial community
Received: 15 Oct 2025; Accepted: 19 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shan, Julihaiti, Wang, Lu, Hu, Zhao, He, Meng and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Helong Yang, yanghlcau@163.com
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