BackgroundRhizospheric fungi play an essential role in the plant–soil ecosystem, affecting plant growth and health. In this study, we evaluated the fungal diversity in the rhizosphere soil of 2-yr-old healthy Panax notoginseng cultivated in Wenshan, China.MethodsCulture-independent Illumina MiSeq and culture-dependent techniques, combining molecular and morphological characteristics, were used to analyze the rhizospheric fungal diversity. A diffusion test was used to challenge the phytopathogens of P. notoginseng.ResultsA total of 16,130 paired-end reads of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 were generated and clustered into 860 operational taxonomic units at 97% sequence similarity. All the operational taxonomic units were assigned to five phyla and 79 genera. Zygomycota (46.2%) and Ascomycota (37.8%) were the dominant taxa; Mortierella and unclassified Mortierellales accounted for a large proportion (44.9%) at genus level. The relative abundance of Fusarium and Phoma sequences was high, accounting for 12.9% and 5.5%, respectively. In total, 113 fungal isolates were isolated from rhizosphere soil. They were assigned to five classes, eight orders (except for an Incertae sedis), 26 genera, and 43 species based on morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer. Fusarium was the most isolated genus with six species (24 isolates, 21.2%). The abundance of Phoma was also relatively high (8.0%). Thirteen isolates displayed antimicrobial activity against at least one test fungus.ConclusionOur results suggest that diverse fungi including potential pathogenic ones exist in the rhizosphere soil of 2-yr-old P. notoginseng and that antagonistic isolates may be useful for biological control of pathogens.

Endophytic fungi, living in the inner tissues of living plants, have attracted increasing attention among ecologists, taxonomists, chemists and agronomists. They are ubiquitously associated with almost all plants studied to date. Numerous studies have indicated that these fungi have an impressive array of biotechnological potential, such as enzyme production, biocontrol agents, plantgrowth promoting agents, bioremediation, biodegradation, biotransformation, biosynthesis and nutrient cycling. These fungi may represent an underexplored reservoir of novel biological resources for exploitation in the pharmaceutical, industry and agriculture. This review focuses on new findings in isolation methods, biodiversity, ecological distribution and biotechnological potential.

BackgroundRhizobacteria play an important role in plant defense and could be promising sources of biocontrol agents. This study aimed to screen antagonistic bacteria and develop a biocontrol system for root rot complex of Panax notoginseng.MethodsPure-culture methods were used to isolate bacteria from the rhizosphere soil of notoginseng plants. The identification of isolates was based on the analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequences.ResultsA total of 279 bacteria were obtained from rhizosphere soils of healthy and root-rot notoginseng plants, and uncultivated soil. Among all the isolates, 88 showed antagonistic activity to at least one of three phytopathogenic fungi, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, and Phoma herbarum mainly causing root rot disease of P. notoginseng. Based on the 16S rRNA sequencing, the antagonistic bacteria were characterized into four clusters, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetesi. The genus Bacillus was the most frequently isolated, and Bacillus siamensis (Hs02), Bacillus atrophaeus (Hs09) showed strong antagonistic activity to the three pathogens. The distribution pattern differed in soil types, genera Achromobacter, Acidovorax, Brevibacterium, Brevundimonas, Flavimonas, and Streptomyces were only found in rhizosphere of healthy plants, while Delftia, Leclercia, Brevibacillus, Microbacterium, Pantoea, Rhizobium, and Stenotrophomonas only exist in soil of diseased plant, and Acinetobacter only exist in uncultivated soil.ConclusionThe results suggest that diverse bacteria exist in the P. notoginseng rhizosphere soil, with differences in community in the same field, and antagonistic isolates may be good potential biological control agent for the notoginseng root-rot diseases caused by F. oxysporum, Fusarium solani, and Panax herbarum.

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