Analysis of bacterial and fungal community structure in Panax notoginseng rhizosphere samples from different locations

Abstract

Panax notoginseng is a well-known Chinese herb that is used worldwide. The goal of this work was to explore the diversity and structure of rhizosphere microbial communities of Panax notoginseng. To do this, Panax notoginseng rhizosphere soil samples were collected from ten production areas in China, and the 16SrRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) sequences were analyzed by Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology. The results revealed similar species composition of fungal and bacterial communities in the different producing areas, but significant variation in the abundances of some dominant flora. Redundancy analysis showed that environmental factors explained 41.3% of the fungal community and 45.7% of the bacterial community. We detected significant enrichment of some root rot pathogens, including Ilyonectria, Fusarium, and Pseudomonas, in samples from Wenshan City and Yunnan Province. In summary, the results reveal differences in the structure of rhizosphere soil microbial community of Panax notoginseng in different production areas. The beneficial fungus Chaetomium was the most abundant, with an average abundance of 19.65%. The results can guide strategies to improve Panax notoginseng quality and yield and for biological control of root rot in Panax notoginseng.