Rhizosphere and endophytic fungal communities are considered critically important for plant health and soil fertility. In response to continuous cropping, Panax notoginseng becomes vulnerable to attack by fungal pathogens. In the present study, culture-independent Illumina MiSeq was used to investigate the rhizospheric and root endophytic fungi in response to continuous Panax notoginseng cropping practices. The results demonstrated that fungal diversity is increased inside the roots and in rhizospheric. Ascomycota, Zygomycota, Basidiomycota and Chytridiomycota were the dominant phyla detected during the continuous cropping of Panax notoginseng. The fungal diversity in the rhizospheric soil and roots of root-rot P. notoginseng plants are less than that of healthy plants in the same cultivating year, thus showing that root-rot disease also affects the community structure and diversity of rhizospheric and root endophytic fungi. Similarities in the major fungal components show that endophytic fungal communities are similar to rhizospheric soil fungal community based on a specialized subset of organisms. Canonical correspondence analysis on the fungal communities in root-rot rhizospheric from both healthy plants and rotation soils reveals that the soil pH and organic matter have the greatest impact upon the microbial community composition during continuous cropping, whereas soil nutrition status does not significantly affect the fungal community composition in response to continuous cropping practices. In addition, the results suggest that the unclassified genera Leotiomycetes, Cylindrocarpon, Fusarium and Mycocentrospora are shown as the potential pathogens which are responsible for the obstacles in continuous cropping of P. notoginseng. Further exploration of these potential pathogens might be useful for the biological control of continuous cropping of P. notoginseng.

Rhizobacteria and endophytic bacteria play important roles in protecting host plants from infection by phytopathogens, which cause soil-borne diseases and severely impair plant health. Panax notoginseng is negatively affected by continuous cropping and becomes vulnerable to attack by microbial pathogens. In the present study, culture-independent Illumina MiSeq was used to investigate root-endophytic and rhizospheric bacteria in response to continuous cropping of P. notoginseng. Numbers of rhizospheric bacteria decreased with continuous P. notoginseng cropping, while the effects of continuous cropping on endophytic bacteria were not statistically significant. Bacterial diversity was higher in healthy P. notoginseng rhizospheric soils and roots than in those of diseased P. notoginseng. The most dominant phyla detected during continuous cropping were Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria. The genera Pseudomonas, Rhodoplanes, Candidatus Solibacter, and Streptomyces were dominant in P. notoginseng rhizospheric soils and roots. Erwinia, Stenotrophomonas, Pseudomonas, and Sphingobium were specifically detected in relatively high proportions among root-rot rhizospheric bacteria and endogenous root bacteria in plants under continuous cropping, suggesting that they may be the pathogens responsible for the negative effects of continuous cropping on P. notoginseng. Based on canonical correspondence analysis of the bacterial communities that were identified from healthy plants and fallow soils, total phosphorus (P), pH, and organic soil matter exerted the greatest impacts upon bacterial community composition during continuous cropping. In general, continuous cropping practices for P. notoginseng and severe root-rot disease notably affected the community structure and the diversity of rhizospheric and root endophytic bacteria. Our study elucidated the ecological significance of microbial communities in healthy plant maintenance, and our results may inform biological control strategies during the continuous cropping of P. notoginseng.

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IntroductionCamellia is among the most ornamentally valuable flowers and plants worldwide. Flower abscission typically causes significant financial losses by the horticultural landscape. Previous research has revealed that phytohormones, transcription factors, and other genes involved in floral development regulate the maintenance and mortality of flowersMethodsIn this study, for the first time, the transcriptomes and targeted hormone metabolomics of three developmental stages of the receptacles of two distinct camellia strains (CF: abscission strain, CHF: nonabscission strain) were analyzed to determine their roles in regulating blossom abscission in camellia.ResultsABA content was shown to be considerably upregulated throughout all phases of CF development, as were the genes implicated in the ABA production pathway and their downstream counterparts. Highly expressed genes in CF were involved in galactose metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, amino and nucleotide sugar metabolism, pentose and glucuronate interconversions, and MAPK. Among others, highly expressed genes in CHF are associated with fructose and mannose metabolism, alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, starch and sucrose metabolism, and cutin, suberin, and wax biosynthesis. A vast variety of stress response-related pathways and redox-related activities were also shown to be active in CHF. In contrast, CF dramatically activated pathways associated with lignin production, keratinogenesis, cell wall biogenesis, and ABA response. A comparative transcriptomic study of the CF and CHF pathways revealed that the downstream response pathways of hormones, including CTK, BR, IAA, ethylene, and GA, were very active in CF, indicating a significant amount of signal transduction and transcriptional regulation by CF. In addition, members of the transcription factor family, such as MYB, bHLH, MADS, and WD40, may regulate flower abscission.DiscussionA comparative transcriptome analysis of two distinct strains of camellia receptacles elucidates the molecular processes and regulatory characteristics of flower abscission and provides direction for the targeted improvement and breeding of camellia.