Effects of maize rotation on the physicochemical properties and microbial communities of American ginseng cultivated soil

Xiao-Lin Jiao,Xue-Song Zhang,Wei-Wei Gao,Ruijun Qin,Xiao-Hong Lu,Yan-Meng Bi

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-44530-7

Abstract

The production of American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) is severely limited by the replant disorders in China. Crop rotation with maize might reduce the replant problems, but little information is available on the effect of maize rotation on soil cultivated with ginseng. In this study, we analyzed nutrients, phenolic acids, and microbial communities in soils from the fields with continuous maize, mono-culture ginseng, and 1-, 3-, and 5-year maize rotation after ginseng. Pot experiments were also conducted to evaluate the performance of replanting ginseng in these soils. The results showed that Mn, Cu, and 5 phenolic acids in ginseng-cultivated soil were significantly decreased by maize rotation. A 5-year maize rotation significantly increased the relative abundance of beneficial soil bacteria, such as Arthrobacter, rather than decreasing the abundances of potential pathogenic genera. Clustering analysis revealed that the physicochemical properties and microbial communities of 3- and 5-year maize rotation soil were more similar to CM than to G soil. The biomass of replanted ginseng root was improved, and root disease was reduced over 3 years of maize rotation. Overall, the results showed that at least a 3-year maize rotation is needed to overcome the replant failure of American ginseng.

Highlights

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) is known for its pharmacological functions, such as anti-oxidation, anti-diabetes, and anti-cancer activities, as well as enhancement of the central nervous system, and it has been consumed in China for more than 300 years[1,2,3,4]
Www.nature.com/scientificreports three years of notoginseng, which belongs to the same genus as American ginseng and suffers from replant failure, fungal diversity was significantly decreased, while the relative abundance of pathogens, such as Fusarium oxysporum, was significantly increased, which were highly correlated with the notoginseng death rate[13]
The total nitrogen (TN) and soil organic matter (SOM) in the G soil tended to decrease after the 3-year maize rotations and rose to similar levels as in cultivated maize (CM) soil

Summary

Introduction

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) is known for its pharmacological functions, such as anti-oxidation, anti-diabetes, and anti-cancer activities, as well as enhancement of the central nervous system, and it has been consumed in China for more than 300 years[1,2,3,4]. American ginseng is a perennial plant requiring shade, which usually grows in fields for four years with high inputs (e.g., soil preparation, shading, orchard cleaning, fertilization, disease control) before harvesting. In crop fields, this plant’s growth is hampered by replanting failure, which reduces the root yield dramatically due to replant disease. The details of the study included (1) the evaluation of soil nutrients, phenolic acids, fungal and bacterial communities, and relative abundances of pathogenic fungi in ginseng soils, as affected by maize rotations, and (2) investigation of the growth and occurrence of root disease in replanted American ginseng in soils immediately after ginseng cultivation or after maize rotation in different years. Our results will help to gain a better understanding of the physicochemical characteristics of the rotation crop and the establishment of microbial communities in soil and provide sustainable cultivation solutions for American ginseng-growing regions

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion