Ecological regulation network of quality in American Ginseng: Insights from macroscopic-mesoscopic-microscopic perspectives

Abstract

The environment profoundly influences the growth, development and constituents of plants. Nonetheless, a lack of comprehensive studies at various scales hinders our understanding of how environmental factors impact the quality of American ginseng. This study employed an integrated approach, considering macroscopic-mesoscopic-microscopic perspective, to reveal the ecological variables impacting the quality of American ginseng. From the macroscopic perspective, the MaxEnt model revealed that American ginseng is suitable for growth in temperate regions. The temperature seasonality and warmest quarter emerged as crucial bioclimatic factors that influence the distribution of American ginseng. Taking the mesoscopic perspective, the ginsenosides were significantly positively correlated with available phosphorus (AP) and soil water content (SWC), and significantly negatively correlated with ammonium nitrogen (NN), available potassium (AK), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC). From the microscopic perspective, a total of 16 microorganisms, including 14 bacteria and 2 fungi, were identified to have a significant impact on the synthesis of ginsenosides through 16 S and internally transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA amplicon sequencing combine with machine learning. Notably, this is the first time to construct an ecological network for regulating the quality of American ginseng and identify the key ecological factors, which can serve as valuable references for targeted breeding and domestication of American ginseng. These findings not only established a theoretical foundation for the future investigation of biological fertilizers, but simultaneously provided crucial insights for cultivating high-quality medicinal plants.