Plant diversity is coupled with soil fungal diversity in a natural temperate steppe of northeastern China

Soil fungi and aboveground plant play vital functions in terrestrial ecosystems,while the relationship between aboveground plant diversity and the unseen soil fungal diversity remains unclear.We established 6 sites from the west to the east of the temperate steppe that vary in plant diversity(plant species richness:7-32)to explore the relationship between soil fungal diversity and aboveground plant diversity.Soil fungal community was characterized by applying 18S rRNA gene sequencing using MiSeq PE300 and aligned with Silva 132 database.As a result,soil fungal community was predominately composed of species within the Ascomycota(84.36%),Basidiomycota(7.22%)and Mucoromycota(6.44%).Plant species richness occupied the largest explanatory power in structuring soil fungal community(19.05%–19.78%).The alpha(α)diversity of the whole soil fungi and Ascomycota showed a hump-backed pattern with increasing plant species richness,and the beta(β)diversity of the whole soil fungi and Ascomycota increased with increasing plantβdiversity.Those results indicated that soil fungi and external resources were well balanced at the 20-species level of plant and the sites were more distinct in the composition of their plant communities also harbored more distinct soil fungal communities.Thus,plant diversity could predict both soil fungalαandβdiversity in the temperate steppe of northeastern China.

Analysis of Rhizosphere Microbial Community Structure in Different Pathogenesis Stages of Watermelon Fusarium Wilt

High-throughput sequencing technique was applied to analyze the microbial community structure of rhizosphere soil at different stages of watermelon fusarium wilt to find out the difference of dominant microbial community in rhizosphere during the occurrence of watermelon fusarium wilt.Illumina-Hiseq high-throughput sequencing platform was used to sequence 16S and ITS rDNA in rhizosphere soil.The soil was named CK1 before planting,CK2 at peak stage and CK3 at stable stage.The results showed that the soil bacterial diversity was in the order of CK1>CK3>CK2,indicating no significant difference between CK1 and CK3 and a significant difference between CK2 and CK1,CK3.At the genus level,the dominant bacteria were Mizugakiibacter(21.9299%),Rhodanobacter(5.0933%),and Lactobacillus(3.1921%).The diversity of soil fungi was in the order of CK1>CK3>CK2,all showing significant differences.At the genus level,the dominant fungus was Lysurus(54.4601%),Papulaspora(12.4252%),Acrophialophora(3.1729%).The results showed that the diversity and abundance of bacteria and fungi in rhizosphere soil decreased during the peak period of watermelon fusarium wilt.With the gradual stabilization of the disease,the diversity and abundance of bacteria and fungi in rhizosphere soil recovered to a certain extent.