Effects of shade stress on morphophysiology and rhizosphere soil bacterial communities of two contrasting shade-tolerant turfgrasses

Abstract

Background: Perturbations in the abiotic stress directly or indirectly affect plants and root-associated microbial communities. Shade stress presents one of the major abiotic limitations for turfgrass growth, as light availability is severely reduced under a leaf canopy. Studies have shown that shade stress influences plant growth and alters plant metabolism, yet little is known about how it affects the structure of rhizosphere soil bacterial communities. In this study, a glasshouse experiment was conducted to examine the impact of shade stress on the physiology of two contrasting shade-tolerant turfgrasses and their rhizosphere soil microbes. Shade-tolerant dwarf lilyturf (Ophiopogon japonicus, OJ) and shade-intolerant perennial turf-type ryegrasss (Lolium perenne, LP) were used. Bacterial community composition was assayed using high-throughput sequencing. Results: Our physiochemical data showed that under shade stress, OJ maintained higher photosynthetic capacity and root growth, thus OJ was found to be more shade-tolerant than LP. Illumina sequencing data revealed that shade stress had little impact on the diversity of the OJ and LP’s bacterial communities, but instead impacted the composition of bacterial communities. The bacterial communities were mostly composed of Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria in OJ soil. Further pairwise fitting analysis showed that a positive correlation of shade-tolerance in two turfgrasses and their bacterial community compositions. Several soil properties (NO3--N, NH4+-N, AK) showed a tight coupling with several major bacterial communities under shade stress, indicating that they are important drivers determining bacterial community structures. Moreover, OJ shared core bacterial taxa known to promote plant growth and confer tolerance to shade stress, which suggests common principles underpinning OJ-microbe interactions. Conclusion: OJ was more shade-tolerant than LP. Shifts in rhizosphere soil bacterial community structure play a vital role in shade-tolerance of OJ plants.