here is a lawn care document that describes some of what you are interested in.
http://www.lawn-care-academy.com/soil-microorganisms.html
good news, is there is just not 1 kind of bacteria or should be we should say microbes but an entire forest of life, i had to do some research when i was concerned that my indoor(overwintered) plants would be come stunted in their growth pattern, mainly due to cool, damp soil. with the lack of natural sunlight and air movement, after watering my container soil could remain cool and moist for 10 days. when i say cool, i am talking slightly lower than room temperature, my plants sit on a south facing window ledge but when night time temperatures high -4F i pull the plants from the ledge and store them in totes on the floor. once the cold soil process starts, i notice a significant slowing in new plant growth.
i am currently playing with corn meal on 2 selected plants to see how that affects growth and plant health. i keep a watering pail(3 gallon) active, in my basement tub, which as about 15ml of granular fertilizer 15-15-30 and about 1/2 cup of chopped seaweed - it's bubbling now. so, the idea of my experiment is to see how the active nutrients work in conjunction with any fungi that the cornmeal produces and how it feeds the plants rooting system. there may be some overlap between microbes supplied by the organic seaweed and the cornmeal.
............oh, did i mention the container soil also contain earthworms, no idea how they got in the soil. but when i water i find baby worms leaving the drainage holes.
good luck with your research.
