Abstract
Hazelnut has gained economic value in China in recent years, but its large-scale planting and research started later than other countries. Conducting basic research on hazelnut trees requires studying their related microorganisms. Here, we used high-throughput DNA sequencing to quantify the fungal communities in the root endospheres and rhizosphere soil of four hazelnut species. Fungal diversity in the rhizosphere soil was significantly higher than that in the root endospheres. Rhizosphere soil had more Mortierellomycota, and the fungal community compositions differed among the four hazelnut species. The root endospheres, especially those of the Ping’ou (Corylus heterophylla × Corylus avellana) trees, contained more ectomycorrhizal fungi. The co-occurrence networks in the rhizosphere soil were more sophisticated and stable than those in the root endospheres, even when the root endospheres had higher modularity, because the structural differentiation of the root endospheres differed from that of the rhizosphere soil. Two-factor correlation network analysis and linear regression analysis showed that the total organic carbon was the main environmental factor affecting the fungal communities. Our study revealed the community compositions, functional predictions, and co-occurrence network structural characteristics of fungi in hazelnut root endospheres and rhizosphere soil. We also examined the potential keystone taxa, and analyzed the environmental factors of the dominant fungal community compositions. This study provides guidance for the growth of hazelnut and the management of hazelnut garden, and provides an insight for future development of fungal inoculants to be used in hazelnut root.
Highlights
Hazelnut trees are one of four nut trees in the worldwide that provide nuts with high nutritional and economic value
Our results showed that fungal diversity and community compositions differed between hazelnut tree root endospheres and rhizosphere soil (Figures 1, 2)
Similar results have been found for the microbial compositions of poplar trees, Mussaenda kwangtungensis and rice (Beckers et al, 2017; Edwards et al, 2018; Qian et al, 2019). This may be because root exudates, mucus produced by the root cap and detached root cells provide suitable niches for the microbial communities around roots (Buée et al, 2009)
Summary
Hazelnut trees are one of four nut trees in the worldwide that provide nuts with high nutritional and economic value. The root system of plants is an organ for fixing plants and absorbing water and nutrients, and a place for microorganisms to gather, inhabit and multiply. Previous studies have explored the community composition of rhizosphere microorganisms and root endophytes in Mussaenda kwangtungensis, Cacti, bean, and poplar, which provided a way to understand the relationship between soil and plants (Fonseca-García et al, 2016; Beckers et al, 2017; Qian et al, 2019; da Silva et al, 2020). Previous studies on hazelnut microorganisms mainly focused on using ectomycorrhiza to promote hazelnut growth (Román et al, 2006; Wedén et al, 2009; Santelices and Palfner, 2010; Benucci et al, 2012), there are few reports on the composition of microbial community and the relationship of root endospheres and rhizosphere microorganisms in hazelnut species. The study on fungi in root endospheres and rhizosphere soil is helpful to understand the interaction between rhizosphere fungi and plants, and to screen potential growth-promoting fungi which are beneficial to plant growth
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