Abstract
The rhizosphere microenvironment is the site of nutrient circulation and microbial community formation, and thus is an ongoing topic of research. Although research on this topic is extensive, studies into the rhizosphere microenvironment of fruit trees remain rare. To elucidate the mechanisms driving the fruit tree rhizosphere microenvironment, we assessed soil physicochemical properties, enzyme activities, the community-level physiological profile (CLPP) and microbial diversity in rhizospheric soils of eight common deciduous fruit trees in northern China. We found that the available minerals, pH, enzyme activities, microbial utilization of six types of carbon (C) substrates, and microbial diversity in the rhizosphere varied among tree species. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that rhizosphere microenvironmental parameters (ammonia nitrogen content, soil pH and invertase activity) were closely related to the soil microbial community. Further analysis revealed that the soil microbial utilization of six C sources, nitrate nitrogen content, and invertase activity were negatively correlated with Ambiguous species and Alternaria; however, these groups were positively correlated with pH. The ammonia nitrogen content was positively correlated with C source utilization and negatively correlated with Ambiguous, Lysobacter, Nitrospira, Alternaria, Fusarium, and Colletotrichum. Interestingly, invertase was closely linked to the microbial community, especially fungal diversity, and was positively correlated with plant-beneficial microbes such as Mortierella, Geomyces, Lysobacter, and Chaetomium, but negatively correlated with pathogenic microbes such as Alternaria, Fusarium, and Colletotrichum. Hence, rhizosphere soil physicochemical properties, enzyme activities and microbial community were significantly affected by tree species. Additionally, a variety of environmental factors were closely related to the microbial community in the rhizospheric soils of eight species of deciduous fruit trees.
Highlights
Deciduous fruit trees have been planted north of the Yangtze River in China, including apples, pears, walnuts, peaches, grapes, cherries,apricots, etc. (Tian and Zhang, 2017)
The available nutrient contents and pH of the rhizosphere soil differed significantly among the eight deciduous fruit tree species sampled at the initial fruiting stage in northern China (Table 1 and Table S3)
The rhizosphere soil available mineral contents were obviously greater, while the pH was significantly lower, for the deciduous fruit trees compared to the control samples
Summary
Deciduous fruit trees have been planted north of the Yangtze River in China, including apples, pears, walnuts, peaches, grapes, cherries,apricots, etc. (Tian and Zhang, 2017). Deciduous fruit trees have been planted north of the Yangtze River in China, including apples, pears, walnuts, peaches, grapes, cherries,apricots, etc. The rapid growth of deciduous fruit production in recent years has become an important force driving the growth of fruit crops worldwide (Feng et al, 2014; Srivastava et al, 2015). Research into the differences and commonalities of the rhizosphere environment among different deciduous fruit trees in northern China may facilitate better understanding of the rhizosphere of different tree species, improve scientific knowledge to inform more effective fertilization methods in the future, and generate new ideas for the development of specialized fruit tree fertilizers. The traditional fertilization method in China has disadvantages, including low efficiency of fertilizer utilization and water waste (Liu et al, 2010; Miao et al, 2011). Elucidating the mechanisms underlying fruit tree rhizosphere microenvironments is necessary
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
