Root hairs, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and rhizosphere microbiome all play important roles in mycorrhizal plant phosphorus (P) absorption. However, how the plant-AM fungi-rhizosphere microbiome continuum interacts efficiently to promote the use of soil P is still unclear. Here, we present results of a controlled environment experiment to reveal the effect of root hair, AM fungi and their interaction on rhizosphere microbial Po cycles. Compared to root hairs, AM fungi contributed more to active microbial community assembly, functional gene recruitment and Po mineralization. The rhizosphere microbial Po mineralizing process contributed more than half of plant P assimilation in the P limited condition. The application of inorganic P (Pi) reduced the effect of root hairs and AM fungi on rhizosphere microbial community assembly and Po mineralizing ability. Our findings demonstrate the importance of AM fungi for maize as a driving force for rhizosphere microbial recruitment and function.

根毛、丛枝菌根 (AM) 真菌和根际微生物组均在菌根植物磷 (P) 吸收中发挥重要作用。然而，植物-AM 真菌-根际微生物组连续体如何有效地相互作用以促进土壤磷的利用仍不清楚。在这里，我们展示了受控环境实验的结果，以揭示根毛、AM 真菌及其相互作用对根际微生物 Po 循环的影响。与根毛相比，AM 真菌对活跃的微生物群落组装、功能基因募集和 Po 矿化的贡献更大。在磷限制条件下，根际微生物磷矿化过程贡献了植物磷同化的一半以上。无机磷（Pi）的施用降低了根毛和AM真菌对根际微生物群落组装和Po矿化能力的影响。我们的研究结果证明了 AM 真菌对玉米作为根际微生物募集和功能的驱动力的重要性。