A study of the core bacterial community and its functions in the rhizosphere soil of desert plants

doi:10.11686/cyxb2025195

Abstract

Abstract:

To decipher the rhizosphere microbial resources and their ecological functions in desert plants， this study focused on five typical desert plant species in the sandy grassland of the Ordos Plateau： Allium bidentatum， Hedysarum mongolicum， Lycium chinense， Oxytropis aciphylla， and Fructus hippophae. Third-generation high-throughput sequencing of full-length 16S rRNA genes was performed on rhizosphere soil bacteria， combined with bioinformatics analysis to reveal community characteristics and functional divergence. It was found that Proteobacteria， Actinobacteria， and Bacteroidetes were the dominant phyla shared across all plant species. Within Actinobacteria， genera Paenarthrobacter， Arthrobacter， and Pseudarthrobacter exhibited high connectivity in the co-occurrence network， forming the core microbial community. The L. chinense rhizosphere displayed a unique community structure， with significantly higher relative abundance of Chloroflexi compared to other plant species （P<0.05）， and enrichment of specific biomarkers such as Longimicrobium. Functional prediction indicated that the rhizosphere microbiota of F. hippophae had the highest abundance of carbon fixation pathways （e.g.， one-carbon pool by folate）， while L. chinense uniquely enriched the fatty acid elongation pathways. Soil physicochemical analysis identified organic matter and available phosphorus as key drivers of bacterial community divergence in the L. chinense rhizosphere， whereas pH primarily shaped the communities of F. hippophae， O. aciphylla， and A. bidentatum. In summary， the findings reveal that desert plants recruit stress-resistant functional microbes to their rhizosphere through selective enrichment of core genera like Pseudarthrobacter， thus providing insight and theoretical support for microbial-mediated restoration of desert ecosystems.

Key words: desert sand steppe, desert plant, rhizobacteria, core community, community structure and function

Jian-nan LI, Kai TANG, Jian-yu MENG, Fu-ying FENG, Xiu-juan ZHAO, Xue-fei LI, Zi-yi ZHAO, Xiang-yang CHEN. A study of the core bacterial community and its functions in the rhizosphere soil of desert plants[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2026, 35(4): 67-85.

Figures/Tables 9

Fig.1 Five desert plants rhizosphere soil bacterial community diversity indices and PCoA analysis

Fig.2 Relative abundances of rhizosphere bacterial communities at the genus level for five desert plant species

Fig.3 Relative abundances of rhizospheres bacterial communities at the species level for five desert plant species

Fig.4 The distribution of significant species LDA values of rhizosphere bacteria for five desert plant species

Table 1 Physicochemical indicators of rhizosphere soil for five desert plant species

样品 Sample	有机质 Organic matter （g·kg^-1）	速效磷 Available phosphorus（mg·kg^-1）	速效氮 Available nitrogen （mg·kg^-1）	pH	电导率 Electrical conductivity （μs·cm^-1）
沙韭A. bidentatum	51.83±2.12bc	96.92±9.62c	4.68±1.17c	7.93±0.15b	295.45±7.01b
杨柴H. mongolicum	53.31±1.49b	106.62±8.17bc	5.62±1.12b	7.97±0.12b	307.62±11.38ab
枸杞L. chinense	56.82±1.81ab	111.15±7.33b	5.89±0.98ab	7.84±0.15b	328.70±9.55a
猫头刺O. aciphylla	50.38±2.35c	98.01±9.22c	6.11±1.23a	8.17±0.06a	297.32±10.41b
大果沙棘H. rhamnoides	57.92±1.24a	121.31±5.21a	5.12±1.29b	7.82±0.15b	329.88±9.28a

Fig.5 DCA ordination of rhizosphere bacteria for five desert plant species

Fig.6 RDA analysis of influencing factors of rhizosphere bacterial community structure for five desert plant species

Fig.7 Core microbial network analysis of rhizosphere bacteria for five desert plant species

Fig.8 Analysis of functional differences in rhizosphere soil bacteria of five desert plants and heatmap of functional genes， enzymes， and metabolic pathways

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