AUTHOR=Du Ewei , Chen Yaping , Li Yahong , Sun Zhongxiang , Gui Furong 

TITLE=Rhizospheric Bacillus-Facilitated Effects on the Growth and Competitive Ability of the Invasive Plant Ageratina adenophora

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.882255

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.882255

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>The rhizospheric microbial community affects the population establishment of invasive plants in introduced areas, among which <italic>Bacillus</italic> has numerous functions in promoting plant growth. This study isolated and enriched the <italic>Bacillus</italic> community in the rhizospheric soil of the invasive plant <italic>Ageratina adenophora</italic> and the native accompanying plant <italic>Rabdosia amethystoides</italic>. The effects of these rhizospheric <italic>Bacillus</italic> communities on the growth and competition of <italic>A. adenophora</italic> and <italic>R. amethystoides</italic> were evaluated in pot experiments. The results showed that the number and diversity of <italic>Bacillus</italic> in the rhizospheric soil of <italic>A. adenophora</italic> were higher than those of <italic>R. amethystoides</italic> (<italic>A. adenophora</italic>: 122 strains in soil, 16 <italic>Bacillus</italic> taxa; <italic>R. amethystoides</italic>: 88 strains in soil, 9 <italic>Bacillus</italic> taxa). After <italic>Bacillus</italic> inoculation of <italic>A. adenophora</italic> in a pot experiment, <italic>Bacillus idriensis</italic>, <italic>Bacillus toyonensis</italic> and <italic>Bacillus cereus</italic> were accumulated in the rhizospheric of <italic>A. adenophora</italic>, which significantly increased the nitrate nitrogen (NO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup>-N) content in the soil and the total carbon and nitrogen concentrations in <italic>A. adenophora</italic> in the mixed treatment. The selective accumulation of <italic>Bacillus</italic> enhanced the competitive advantage of <italic>A. adenophora</italic> over the native accompanying plant; the corrected index of relative competition intensity of <italic>A</italic>. <italic>adenophora</italic>-inoculated <italic>Bacillus</italic> reached double that of the uninoculated treatment, and the growth of native plants was greatly suppressed under mixed planting. Our study confirmed that invasion of <italic>A. adenophora</italic> can lead to the accumulation of specific <italic>Bacillus</italic> taxa in the rhizospheric soil, which in turn can increase the competitive advantage of <italic>A. adenophora</italic>.</p>