Structure, Diversity, and Composition of Bacterial Communities in Rhizospheric Soil of Coptis chinensis Franch under Continuously Cropped Fields

Mohammad Murtaza Alami,Yutao Ma,Xuekui Wang,Dengyan Zhu,Zedan Gong,Shaohua Shu,Jinqi Xue

doi:10.3390/d12020057

Mohammad Murtaza Alami, Yutao Ma + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/d12020057

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Journal: Diversity	Publication Date: Feb 1, 2020
Citations: 19	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Huazhong Agricultural University

Abstract

Soil microorganisms are critical factors of plant productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. Coptis chinensis Franch is one of the most important medicinal plants in China. Soil types and cropping systems influence the diversity and composition of the rhizospheric microbial communities. In the current study, we provide detailed information regarding the diversity and composition of the rhizospheric bacterial communities of the C. chinensis plants in continuously cropped fields and fallow fields in two seasons (i.e., winter and summer) using next-generation sequencing. The alpha diversity was higher in the five-year cultivated C. chinensis field (CyS5) and lower in fallow fields (NCS). Significant differences analysis confirmed more biomarkers in the cultivated field soil than in fallow fields. Additionally, the principal coordinate analysis (PcoA) of the beta diversity indices revealed that samples associated with the cultivated fields and fallow fields in different seasons were separated. Besides, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Gemmatimonadetes were the top bacterial phyla. Among these phyla, Proteobacteria were found predominantly and showed a decreasing trend with the continuous cropping of C. chinensis. A phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) revealed that the abundance of C and N functional genes had a significant difference between the soil samples from cultivated (CyS1, CyS3, and CyS5) and fallow (NCS) fields in two seasons (winter and summer). The principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) based on UniFrac distances (i.e., unweighted and weighted) revealed the variations in bacterial community structures in the soil samples. This study could provide a reference for solving the increasingly severe cropping obstacles and promote the sustainable development of the C. chinensis industry.

Highlights

Coptis chinensis Franch is one of the essential traditional medicinal plants in the familyRanunculaceae [1]
Four C. chinensis fields were randomly selected for the experiment—three from the continuously cultivated areas and one from the fallow fields
With the increasing years of C. chinensis cultivation, the total content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic matter significantly increased in both winter and summer seasons

Summary

Introduction

Coptis chinensis Franch is one of the essential traditional medicinal plants in the familyRanunculaceae [1]. Coptis chinensis Franch is one of the essential traditional medicinal plants in the family. The C. chinensis rhizome is prescribed for many medicinal purposes such as diabetes treatment, distress, jaundice, acute fever and mild fever, seasonal fever disease, sore throat, fever reduction, and diarrhea [2,3]. Previous phytochemical studies on C. chinensis found more than 30 alkaloids. Among these alkaloids, berberine, epiberberine, palmatine, coptisine, and jatrorrhizine, which are predominantly active isoquinoline alkaloids, have been confirmed as significant constituents [4]. The high-quality and -quantity production of C. chinensis is more dependent on the cultivation method. Because of the increasing demands for this medicinal plant in the market, continuous cropping of C. chinensis has become common

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