The interactions between soil microbes and microbial feeding nematodes correlate with fruit productivity of Illicium verum Hook

Volatiles of the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium brunneum, attract and kill plant parasitic nematodes

“…emend. Snyder & Hansen strain 21 ( Terra et al, 2018 ); Trichoderm a sp Persoon ( Yang et al, 2019 ); and several strains of bacteria belonging to the genera Bacillus sp. Cohn, Paenibacillu s sp Ash et al ., and Xanthomonas sp Dowson (Bui, et al, 2019).…”

“…Cohn, Paenibacillu s sp Ash et al ., and Xanthomonas sp Dowson (Bui, et al, 2019). The fact that each microbe emits nematicidal VOCs with different chemistries suggests these traits evolved independently, presumably to protect the host plant (source of refuge and food) from detrimental PPN or to escape predation by fungus and bacterium eating nematodes ( Yang et al, 2019 , Haraguchi and Yoshiga, 2020 ).…”

Soil Enzyme Activity and Stoichiometry in an Illicium verum Plantation Chronosequence in Southern China

“…Illicium verum (Magnoliaceae), also known as star anise, is an important economic tree species broadly planted in the mountainous areas in tropical and subtropical regions of southern China including Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and Yunnan Provinces [19]. The fruit from I. verum is widely used as a cooking ingredient and in important traditional Chinese medicine for treating rheumatism, stomachache, and insomnia [20].…”

“…Guangxi Province is the origin and main production area of I. verum, and the star anise yield accounts for nearly 90% of total annual production in China [22,23]. However, the yield of star anise per unit area is generally unstable and low because of improper plantation management in Guangxi, which hinders sustainable development in the star anise industry of China [19,23].…”

“…A previous study shows soil nutrients are low in Gauanxi's I. verum plantations [25]. Moreover, a recent study indicates that the associations between nutrient links, soil microbial properties, and the detritus food web govern ecosystem functioning in I. verum plantations [19]. The development of plantations inevitably causes differences in nutrient availability for soil microorganisms among stands with different ages, therefore affecting the limiting factors of soil microbial nutrients.…”