AUTHOR=Hou Wenjuan , Xing Yanping , Xue Hefei , Huang Yanchang , Huang Yutong , Men Wenxiao , Yang Yanyun , Kang Tingguo , Dou Deqiang , Zheng Han , Xu Liang 

TITLE=Exploring the diversity and potential functional characteristics of microbiota associated with different compartments of Schisandra chinensis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1419943

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2024.1419943

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Symbiotic microbial have a significant impact on the growth and metabolism of medicinal plants. <italic>Schisandra chinensis</italic> is a very functionally rich medicinal herb; however, its microbial composition and diversity have been poorly studied.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>In the present study, the core microbiomes associated with the rhizospheric soil, roots, stems, leaves, and fruits of <italic>S. chinensis</italic> from six geographic locations were analyzed by a macro-genomics approach.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Alpha and beta diversity analyses showed that the diversity of microbial composition of <italic>S. chinensis</italic> fruits did not differ significantly among the geographic locations as compared to that in different plant compartments. Principal coordinate analysis showed that the microbial communities of <italic>S. chinensis</italic> fruits from the different ecological locations were both similar and independent. In all <italic>S. chinensis</italic> samples, Proteobacteria was the most dominant bacterial phylum, and Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the most dominant fungal phyla. <italic>Nitrospira, Bradyrhizobium, Sphingomonas</italic>, and <italic>Pseudomonas</italic> were the marker bacterial populations in rhizospheric soils, roots, stems and leaves, and fruits, respectively, and <italic>Penicillium, Golubevia</italic>, and <italic>Cladosporium</italic> were the marker fungal populations in the rhizospheric soil and roots, stems and leaves, and fruits, respectively. Functional analyses showed a high abundance of the microbiota mainly in biosynthesis.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>The present study determined the fungal structure of the symbiotic microbiome of <italic>S. chinensis</italic>, which is crucial for improving the yield and quality of <italic>S. chinensis</italic>.</p></sec>