Analysis of microbial changes in the rhizosphere of unplanted and planted Atractylodes lancea via high-throughput sequencing

Abstract Background Atractylodes lancea is a traditional Chinese medicine, which typically requires more than 3–4 years of continuous cropping to obtain the underground medicinal components. With continuous cropping years, the quality and yields of A. lancea medicinal materials decrease, while pests and diseases increase. These aspects are intimately correlated with rhizospheric microorganisms. Methods This research paper employed high-throughput sequencing for its detection in soil that was cultivated for three years and never cultivated to clarify the relationship between the microbial diversity of the rhizosphere and continuous A. lancea cropping. Results The rhizosphere microbial community was altered following the continuous cropping of A. lancea . The bacterial diversity and richness were observed to decrease, while the fungal community diversity increased, and richness decreased. The total OUTs of the soil bacteria and fungi of unplanted and planted A. lancea were 59.58% and 37.65%, respectively. At the phylum level, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi decreased, whereas the relative abundance of Mortierellomycota increased. At the genus level, Bradyrhizobium , Striaticonidium , Dactylonectria , Sphingomonas , Burkholderiaceae , Rhodanobacter , Arthrobacter , Scleroderma , Mortierella and Penicillium were significantly different between the two sample groups. Conclusions Our results revealed that following the cultivation of A. lancea , the rhizospheric microbial community was altered. This study preliminarily determined the