Influence of weeding methods on rhizosphere soil and root endophytic microbial communities in tea plants

Yuxiao Yan; Conglian Wang; Renyuan Wan; Shuang Li; Yanfen Yang; Caiyou Lv; Yongmei Li; Guangrong Yang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1334711

Influence of weeding methods on rhizosphere soil and root endophytic microbial communities in tea plants

Front Microbiol. 2024 Feb 7:15:1334711. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1334711. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Yuxiao Yan^#¹, Conglian Wang^#¹, Renyuan Wan¹, Shuang Li¹, Yanfen Yang¹, Caiyou Lv¹, Yongmei Li², Guangrong Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Tea Science, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
² College of Resources and Environment, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Introduction: Polyethylene mulch is a kind of inorganic mulch widely used in agriculture. The effects of plastic mulch debris on the structure of plant soil and root growth have been fully studied, but their effects on endophytic microbial communities have not been explored to a large extent.

Methods: In this study, High-throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes and fungal ITS region sequences were used to analyze microbial community structure and composition in rhizosphere soil and root endophytic of tea plant under three different weeding methods: polyethylene mulching, hand weeding and no weeding (CK).

Results: The results showed that the weeding methods had no significant effect on the rhizosphere and root endophytic microbial abundance, but the rhizosphere bacterial structure covered by polyethylene mulch was significantly different than hand weeding and CK. The rhizosphere fungal diversity was also significantly higher than the other two analyzed treatments. The community abundance of rhizosphere microorganisms Acidobacteria, Candidatus Rokubacteria and Aspergillus covered by polyethylene mulch decreased significantly, whereas Bradyrhizobium, Solirubrobacterales and Alphaproteobacteria increased significantly. The abundance of bacteria Ktedonobacter, Reticulibacter, Ktedonosporobacter and Dictyobacter communities covered by polyethylene mulch was significantly changed, and the abundance of Fusarium and Nitrobacteraceae was significantly increased. Rhizosphere dominant bacteria were negatively correlated with soil available nitrogen content, while dominant fungi were significantly correlated with soil pH, total nitrogen and total potassium.

Discussion: Polyethylene mulch forms an independent micro-ecological environment. At the same time, the soil nutrient environment was enriched by affecting the nitrogen cycle, and the composition of microbial community was affected. This study elucidated the effects of polyethylene mulch on soil microbial community in tea garden and provided a new theoretical understanding for weed management.

Keywords: endophytic microorganism; polyethylene mulch; rhizosphere soil; tea plant; weeding.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of the article. This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Project No. 2022YFD1901500/2022YFD1901501). The key technologies integration and demonstration for improving quality and efficiency of plateau characteristic cash crops in Yunnan Province (Project No. 2022YFD1601804). The National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 31660225). The funders had no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication.