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The rhizospheric microbial community affects the population establishment of invasive plants in introduced areas, among which Bacillus has numerous functions in promoting plant growth. This study isolated and enriched the Bacillus community in the rhizospheric soil of the invasive plant Ageratina adenophora and the native accompanying plant Rabdosia amethystoides. The effects of these rhizospheric Bacillus communities on the growth and competition of A. adenophora and R. amethystoides were evaluated in pot experiments. The results showed that the number and diversity of Bacillus in the rhizospheric soil of A. adenophora were higher than those of R. amethystoides (A. adenophora: 122 strains in soil, 16 Bacillus taxa; R. amethystoides: 88 strains in soil, 9 Bacillus taxa). After Bacillus inoculation of A. adenophora in a pot experiment, Bacillus idriensis, Bacillus toyonensis and Bacillus cereus were accumulated in the rhizospheric of A. adenophora, which significantly increased the nitrate nitrogen (NO3–-N) content in the soil and the total carbon and nitrogen concentrations in A. adenophora in the mixed treatment. The selective accumulation of Bacillus enhanced the competitive advantage of A. adenophora over the native accompanying plant; the corrected index of relative competition intensity of A. adenophora-inoculated Bacillus reached double that of the uninoculated treatment, and the growth of native plants was greatly suppressed under mixed planting. Our study confirmed that invasion of A. adenophora can lead to the accumulation of specific Bacillus taxa in the rhizospheric soil, which in turn can increase the competitive advantage of A. adenophora.

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, is one of the most important invasive species and causes great damage to various host crops in China. In this study, the diversity and function of gut bacteria in the 5th instar larvae of FAW fed on maize, wheat, potato and tobacco leaves were analyzed through 16S rRNA sequencing. A total of 1324.25 ± 199.73, 1313.5 ± 74.87, 1873.00 ± 190.66 and 1435.25 ± 139.87 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) from the gut of FAW fed on these four different host plants were detected, respectively. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the most abundant bacterial phyla. Beta diversity analysis showed that the gut bacterial community structure of larvae fed on different host plants was significantly differentiated. At the genus level, the abundance of Enterococcus in larvae fed on wheat was significantly lower than those fed on the other three host plants. Enterobacter and ZOR0006 were dominant in FAW fed on tobacco leaves, and in low abundance in larvae fed on wheat. Interestingly, when fed on Solanaceae (tobacco and potato) leaves which contained relative higher levels of toxic secondary metabolites than Gramineae (wheat and maize), the genera Enterococcus, Enterobacter and Acinetobacter were significantly enriched. The results indicated that gut bacteria were related to the detoxification and adaptation of toxic secondary metabolites of host plants in FAW. Further analysis showed that replication, repair and nucleotide metabolism functions were enriched in the gut bacteria of larvae fed on tobacco and potato. In conclusion, the gut bacterial diversity and community composition in FAW larvae fed on different host plants showed significant differences, and the insect is likely to regulate their gut bacteria for adaptation to different host plants.

The invasive weed Ageratina adenophora can form a positive symbiotic relationship with native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to promote its invasion ability. However, the function of AMF during the feeding of Aphis gossypii in A. adenophora was poorly understand. This study aimed to investigate the effects of two dominant AMF (Claroideoglomus etunicatum and Septoglomus constrictum) on A. adenophora in response to the feeding of the generalist herbivore A. gossypii. The results showed that A. gossypii infestation could significantly reduce the biomass, nutrient and proline contents of A. adenophora, and increase the antioxidant enzyme activities, defense hormone and secondary metabolite contents of the weed. Compared with the A. gossypii infested A. adenophora, inoculation C. etunicatum and S. constrictum could significantly promote the growth ability and enhanced the resistance of A. adenophora to A. gossypii infestation, and the aboveground biomass of A. adenophora increased by 317.21% and 114.73%, the root biomass increased by 347.33% and 120.58%, the polyphenol oxidase activity heightened by 57.85% and 12.62%, the jasmonic acid content raised by 13.49% and 4.92%, the flavonoid content increased by 27.29% and 11.92%, respectively. The survival rate of A. gossypii and density of nymphs were significantly inhibited by AMF inoculation, and the effect of C. etunicatum was significantly greater than that of S. constrictum. This study provides clarified evidence that AMF in the rhizosphere of A. adenophora are effective in the development of tolerance and chemical defense under the feeding pressure of insect herbivory, and offer references for the management of the A. adenophora from the perspective of soil microorganisms.

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Beneficial microorganisms play a pivotal role in the invasion process of exotic plants, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and Bacillus. However, limited research exists on the synergistic influence of AMF and Bacillus on the competition between both invasive and native plants. In this study, pot cultures of Ageratina adenophora monoculture, Rabdosia amethystoides monoculture, and A. adenophora and R. amethystoides mixture were used to investigate the effects of dominant AMF (Septoglomus constrictum, SC) and Bacillus cereus (BC), and the co-inoculation of BC and SC on the competitive growth of A. adenophora. The results showed that inoculation with BC, SC, and BC + SC significantly increased the biomass of A. adenophora by 14.77, 112.07, and 197.74%, respectively, in the competitive growth between A. adenophora and R. amethystoides. Additionally, inoculation with BC increased the biomass of R. amethystoides by 185.07%, while inoculation with SC or BC + SC decreased R. amethystoides biomass by 37.31 and 59.70% compared to the uninoculated treatment. Inoculation with BC significantly increased the nutrient contents in the rhizosphere soil of both plants and promoted their growth. Inoculation with SC or SC + BC notably increased the nitrogen and phosphorus contents of A. adenophora, therefore enhancing its competitiveness. Compared with single inoculation, dual inoculation with SC and BC increased AMF colonization rate and Bacillus density, indicating that SC and BC can form a synergistic effect to further enhance the growth and competitiveness of A. adenophora. This study reveals the distinct role of S. constrictum and B. cereus during the invasion of A. adenophora, and provide new clues to the underlying mechanisms of interaction between invasive plant, AMF and Bacillus.