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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 16 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1531875
Introduction of Panax notoginseng into pine forests significantly enhances the diversity, stochastic processes, and network complexity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil
Provisionally accepted- 1 Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of In-forest Resource, Southwest Forestry University, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
- 2 Southwest Research Center for Engineering Technology of Landscape Architecture (State Forestry and Grassland Administration), Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria (NFB) have a pivotal impact on the nitrogen cycle within agroforestry systems. The organic management of the Panax notoginseng (sanqi)-Pinus armandii agroforestry (SPA) system resulted in nitrogen deficiency because of the lack of application of chemical fertilizers. Therefore, assessing the variability in NFB due to the cultivation of sanqi in the SPA system becomes crucial. The seasonal dynamics in the abundance, diversity, and community structure of NFB in the soil of monocropping pine (MP) and SPA systems were assessed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and high-throughput sequencing technology. Sanqi cultivation triggered a decrease in the abundance of NFB but increased α diversity. Additionally, significant differences in the community structure of NFB were noted between the MP and SPA systems. Moreover, the abundance of Bradyrhizobium and Azospirillum increased in the soil after sanqi was cultivated. Furthermore, the cultivation of sanqi broadened the ecological niche breadth of NFB and increased the stochasticity in its community structure assembly (i.e., dispersal limitation). Additionally, the SPA system increased the network complexity but not the stability of NFB. The structural equation model (SEM) revealed that pH directly impacted the network complexity and stability of NFB in the SPA system. Sanqi cultivation positively influences the community characteristics of NFB in the soil in the SPA system. Our study provides new insights into nitrogen cycling and utilization in the SPA system.
Keywords: Panax notoginseng, Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, nifH gene, high-throughput sequencing, structural equation model
Received: 21 Nov 2024; Accepted: 22 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, He, Rui, Hei, He and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shu He, Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of In-forest Resource, Southwest Forestry University, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
Rui Rui, Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of In-forest Resource, Southwest Forestry University, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
Jingying Hei, Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of In-forest Resource, Southwest Forestry University, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
Xiahong He, Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of In-forest Resource, Southwest Forestry University, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
Shu Wang, Southwest Research Center for Engineering Technology of Landscape Architecture (State Forestry and Grassland Administration), Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
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