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Revealing interactions between root phenolic metabolomes and rhizosphere bacterial communities in Populus euphratica plantations

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Abstract

How the root metabolic profiles and rhizosphere bacterial communities of dioecious plants respond to soil properties and sex identity is largely unknown. In this study, we analyzed root phenolic metabolomes and rhizosphere bacterial microbiomes of Populus euphratica females and males in two P. euphratica plantations with different soil properties to reveal the relative importance of soil and sex effects, and to decipher associations of certain phenolic compounds with specific bacterial taxa. We found that the relative abundances of bacterial OTUs and phenolic metabolites were closely linked to soil properties and sex identity. Soil is the main filter influencing the root phenolic metabolic profiles and rhizosphere bacterial communities of P. euphratica, while sexes and their interactions with soil properties are secondary factors. Differences in the diversity and evenness of phenolic metabolites were affected by plant sex, but not by soil properties. Conversely, the diversity and evenness of bacterial communities were affected by soil properties independent of plant sex. A multiple regression model indicated the presence of associations between root phenolic metabolites and specific soil bacteria taxa. Furthermore, all bacterial phyla and families correlated with at least one phenolic metabolite. Especially, both Nitrosomonadaceae and Cytophagaceae positively correlated with salicylic acid. Thus, our study provides new insights into the ecological mechanism that maintains rhizosphere bacterial communities in P. euphratica plantations in the desert area.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Juntuan Zhai for assistance in the field work. We also thank Lin Zhang and Tianle Xu for assistance in data analysis. This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (U1803231) and the Talent Program of the Hangzhou Normal University (2016QDL020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, China

    Zhichao Xia, Yue He, Lei Yu & Chunyang Li

  2. College of Life Sciences, Tarim University, Alar, 843300, China

    Zhijun Li

  3. Department of Agricultural Sciences, Viikki Plant Science Centre, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 27, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Helena Korpelainen

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  1. Zhichao Xia
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  3. Lei Yu
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Contributions

Zhichao Xia had the main responsibility for data collection, analysis, and writing; Yue He, Lei Yu, and Zhijun Li performed the experiment; Helena Korpelainen contributed to the interpretation of data and manuscript preparation; and Chunyang Li (the corresponding author) had the overall responsibility for experimental design and project management.

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Correspondence to Chunyang Li.

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Xia, Z., He, Y., Yu, L. et al. Revealing interactions between root phenolic metabolomes and rhizosphere bacterial communities in Populus euphratica plantations. Biol Fertil Soils 57, 421–434 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-020-01527-z

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