Plant Interaction Patterns Shape the Soil Microbial Community and Nutrient Cycling in Different Intercropping Scenarios of Aromatic Plant Species

Yue Sun; Li Chen; Shiyi Zhang; Yantao Miao; Yan Zhang; Zhenglin Li; Jingya Zhao; Lu Yu; Jie Zhang; Xiaoxiao Qin; Yuncong Yao

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.888789

Plant Interaction Patterns Shape the Soil Microbial Community and Nutrient Cycling in Different Intercropping Scenarios of Aromatic Plant Species

Front Microbiol. 2022 May 27:13:888789. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.888789. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yue Sun^{1

2

3

4}, Li Chen^{1

2

3}, Shiyi Zhang^{1

2

3}, Yantao Miao^{1

2

3}, Yan Zhang^{1

2

3}, Zhenglin Li^{1

2

3}, Jingya Zhao^{1

2

3}, Lu Yu^{1

2

3}, Jie Zhang^{1

2

3}, Xiaoxiao Qin^{1

2

3}, Yuncong Yao^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Tree Breeding by Molecular Design, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China.
² College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China.
³ Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China.
⁴ College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Intercropping systems improve the soil nutrient cycle through microbial community activity and then land productivity. However, their interactions mechanism underlying that the mixed aromatic plant species intercropping regulate the soil microbiome and nutrient cycling on the perennial woody orchard is still uncovered. We designed treatments with 0, 1, and 3 aromatic plant species intercropped in two scenarios of clean tillage (T model, T1, T2, and T4) and natural grass (G model, G1, G2, and G4) in apple orchards, and investigated intercrops effects at the branch growing stage (BGS) and fruit development stage (FDS), respectively. Compared with T model, G model in FDS increased alpha diversity of bacterial community and Shannon index fungal community, the relative abundance of dominant taxa, such as Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria, and also the numbers of up and down-regulated OTUs, the most of indices of co-occurrence network in both bacterial and fungal community, and then improved invertase activity and available nitrogen content. Relative to G1, G2 and G4 reduced diversity bacterial community in FDS, the relative abundance of dominant taxa, the most of indices of co-occurrence network, and then improved soil invertase activity and total phosphorus content in soil. Moreover, Shannon index of fungal community, the altered number of OTUs and the most indices of co-occurrence network were higher in G4 than those in G2 in FDS. These changes above in FDS were more markedly than those in BGS, suggesting that chemical diversity of litter from mixed species of aromatic plants in natural grass scenario led to diversity, complexity, and stability of soil microbial community and then nutrient cycling. It provided a novel highlight and method to modulate biocenosis and then improve the soil nutrient cycling.

Keywords: C and N cycles; aromatic plant intercropping; diversities of microbial communities; management pattern; microbial PLFAs.