Z (Zewen) Hei

Research:

Soil aggregates serves as a vital niche for microbially mediated soil nitrogen transformation in agricultural system. According to the concept of aggregate hierarchy, large macroaggregate consist of fungal hyphae, roots and polysaccharide clay particles, more degradable materials, aeration and better oxygen activity, higher nutrient conversion, more nematode and protist; small macroaggregate include humus, metal cations and adsorption compounds; and microaggregate consist of polysaccharide compounds, less oxygen and contain more stable substances. However, the researches about nitrogen transformation and related microbial mechanism across aggregate levels still remained limited. Considering that soil aggregate nitrogen transformation was depended on the aggregate fractions and the associated microbial communities, it’s crucial to explore the aggregate nitrogen transformation and its corresponding microbial mechanism for facilitating crop growth in agricultural management practices. Thus, we aim to decipher nitrogen transformation process in soil aggregate and explore the effect of aggregate microbes on crop growth.

In my research project, I explore the microbiome functioning with a focus on nitrogen transformation at aggregate level. The experiment was based on long-term organic and conventional fertilizations. By separating the bulk soil to large macroaggregate, small macroaggregate and microaggregate, the indexes regarding to N transformation, microbial residual nitrogen, functional gene abundance and diversity were measured.