Pecan plantation age influences the structures, ecological networks, and functions of soil microbial communities

Abstract

Understanding the changes in microbial communities with increasing plantation age will benefit the maintenance of forest health and productivity and the sustainable development of forest ecosystems. It was not clear before this study whether the microbial communities of pecan (Carya illinoinensis) plantations would be affected by their age. Based on MiSeq sequencing, we studied the effects of pecan age on microbial communities in rhizosphere and bulk soils of pecan plantations for the first time.The results showed that the bacterial alpha diversity of bulk soil increased significantly with plantation age (p < 0.05), while fungal alpha diversity was less influenced by pecan age in both rhizosphere soil and bulk soil. Pecan age significantly influenced

Integrated microbiome and metabolomics analysis reveal a closer relationship between soil metabolites and bacterial community than fungal community in pecan plantations

“…Because a large number of IAA‐producing PGPR in RS rather than BS were isolated in our unpublished study. And we found a healthier microbial network in the rhizosphere rather than in bulk soil (Liu, Tang, Bao, Wang, Peng, Chen, & Tan, 2022). Organic acids and sugars, as common root exudates, were reported to be the main drivers of change in the rhizosphere microbial community (Shi et al, 2011; Song et al, 2020).…”

“…Up‐regulation of some phenolic compounds has been reported to attract PGPRs (Massalha et al, 2017; Neal et al, 2012), thereby enhancing plant resistance to soil‐borne diseases (Ling et al, 2013). In our published works, the soil health of pecans was threatened by pathogens and showed greater degradation of aromatic compounds with increasing tree age (Liu, Tang, Bao, Wang, Peng, Chen, & Tan, 2022). And in our present study, significant enrichment of new secondary metabolites in RS occurred when pecans increased in age to 30 years, such as 3‐trans‐caffeoyltormentic acid (Figure 5).…”

“…BS and RS of the pecan plantations with stand ages of 7‐year‐old (Y7), 12‐year‐old (Y12), and 30‐year‐old (Y30) were sampled. Detailed sampling methods were described in our previous study (Liu, Tang, Bao, Wang, Peng, Chen, & Tan, 2022). A multipoint sampling method was applied, and each soil sample was collected from four directions of the three distant trees, for a total of six soil mixtures of each age treatment.…”

“…High‐throughput sequencing of bacterial 16 S rRNA gene and fungal ITS gene was achieved by an Illumina MiSeq PE300 platform (Illumina, San Diego, USA). We described specific methods in detail in our previous study (Liu, Tang, Bao, Wang, Peng, Chen, & Tan, 2022). Briefly, including DNA extraction, PCR amplification, and final sequencing.…”

Astragalus-cultivated soil was a suitable bed soil for nurturing Angelica sinensis seedlings from the rhizosphere microbiome perspective

“…In the study, the number of bacterial OTUs was almost six times higher than that of fungal OTUs, and similar results in other plants had been reported 41 , 42 . Network analysis based on the correlation between factors is widely used in soil microbial ecology 43 , for example, between soil physicochemical properties and bacterial communities 44 , and between plant growth age and microbial communities 45 . Network analysis could help researchers understand that the microbiome in complex systems was influenced by the gradient changes in ecological factors, and infer the assembly rules of microbial communities.…”