Enhancement of Copper Availability and Microbial Community Changes in Rice Rhizospheres Affected by Sulfur.docVIP

Molecules 2011, 16, 1409-1417; doi:10.3390/molecule OPEN ACCESS molecules ISSN 1420-3049 /journal/molecules Article Enhancement of Copper Availability and Microbial Community Changes in Rice Rhizospheres Affected by Sulfur Ji-Yan Shi 1,*, Hui-Rong Lin 1,2, Xiao-Feng Yuan 3, Xin-Cai Chen 1, Chao-Feng Shen 1 and Ying-Xu Chen 1 1 Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Non-point Source Pollution Control, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, China; E-Mails: linhuirong@ (H.-R.L.); chxc8008@ (X.-C.C.); ysxzt@ (C.-F.S.); yingxu_chen@ (Y.-X.C.) 2 Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Xiamen University Tan Kah Kee College, Zhangzhou 363105, China 3 Life Science Department, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China; E-Mail: sjyxf.ok@163.com (X.-F.Y.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: shijiyan@; Tel.: +86-571 Fax: +86-571 Received: 5 January 2011; in revised form: 18 January 2011 / Accepted: 20 January 2011 / Published: 7 February 2011 Abstract: The role of sulfur on the availability of Cu and the bacterial community in rice rhizospheres was investigated by pot experiments. With sulfur addition, pH in rhizosphere soil decreased and Mg(NO3)2 extractable Cu increased significantly. The bacterial community composition also changed with sulfur addition. Some specific clones having high similarity to Thiobacillus, which indicated that sulfur oxidation in the rice rhizosphere could increase the availability of Cu. These results suggested that sulfur source which could provide substrate to sulfur oxidizing bacteria and enhance the availability of Cu was not a suitable sulfur fertilizer for Cu polluted soil. Keywords: sulfur transformation; PCR-DGGE; copper availability; rice rhizosphere  1410 Molecules 2011, 16 1. Introduction Copper (Cu) is an essential nutrient element for plants,