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Research progress on factors affecting microbial invasion.

MA Chao, ZHUANG Rui-hua, WANG Shi-cong, YANG Xin-run, CHAI Ru-shan, WANG Qing-yun, YE Xin-xin, ZHANG Zhen, GAO Hongj-ian*   

  1. (Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Farmland Ecological Conservation and Pollution Prevention, School of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China).
  • Online:2019-10-10 Published:2019-10-10

Abstract: Identification of factors that affect biological invasion can provide valuable insights into the management and control of invasive species. Most of previous studies focused on the invasion of plants and animals, with the microbial invasion remaining poorly documented. Here, we reviewed the effects of traits of invasive microorganisms, abiotic and biotic characteristics of invaded habitats, and the alien-native species difference on microbial invasion. We compared the main differences between microbial invasion and that of animals and plants, and between microbial invasion and microbial colonization, and proposed several issues that should be further strengthened in microbial invasion research. Microbial invasion was affected by the invader traits (i.e. phylogeny, form, size, etc.), characteristics of invaded ecosystem (i.e. biodiversity, predator pressure, concentration and composition of available resource, etc.), and aliennative species relationship (phylogenetic distance, niche difference, fitness difference) simultaneously. However, the correlation, interaction of those three factors and their relative contribution on the microbial invasion are still unclear. Microbial invasion had several similarities with animals and plants invasion/microbial colonization, but with many differences among them. Future studies on microbial invasion should focus on: (1) exploring the effects of unique traits of microbial invader (i.e. persistence and quorum sensing) on invasion; (2) determining the survivor quantity, spread extent and impact degree of microorganisms in invaded ecosystems; (3) verifying the classical invasion hypothesis/theory through experiment of microbial invasion using the methods in microbial colonization study; (4) clarifying the tendency of microbial invasion under global change; (5) distinguishing the key factors regulating invasive microorganisms in different invasive stages.

Key words: soil respiration, nitrogen fertilizer, Keerqin sandy land, R10., Q10