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. 2019 Nov 26;7(12):616.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms7120616.

Changes of Root Endophytic Bacterial Community Along a Chronosequence of Intensively Managed Lei Bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) Forests in Subtropical China

Xiaoping Zhang  1 , Zheke Zhong  1 , Xu Gai  1 , Xuhua Du  1 , Fangyuan Bian  1 , Chuanbao Yang  1 , Guibin Gao  1 , Xing Wen  1
Affiliations

Changes of Root Endophytic Bacterial Community Along a Chronosequence of Intensively Managed Lei Bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) Forests in Subtropical China

Xiaoping Zhang et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Endophytic bacteria widely exist inside plant tissues and have an important role in plant growth and development and the alleviation of environmental stress. However, little is known about the response of root-associated bacterial endophytes of Lei bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) to intensive management, which is a common management practice for high bamboo shoot production in subtropical China. In this study, we comparatively investigated the root endophytic bacterial community structures in a chronosequence of intensively managed (5a, 10a, 15a, and 20a) and extensively managed plantations (as control, Con). The results showed that endophytic Proteobacteria was the dominant bacterial phylum in the bamboo roots. Intensive management significantly increased (p < 0.05) the bacterial observed species and Chao1 (except 5a) indices associated with bamboo roots. The relative abundances of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria (except 15a) in the intensively managed bamboo roots significantly increased (p < 0.05) compared with those in Con, while the relative abundance of Proteobacteria significantly decreased in intensively managed bamboo roots (p < 0.05). The phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes were the biomarkers in Con, 5a, 15a, and 20a, respectively. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that soil alkali-hydrolysable N (AN), available phosphorus (AP), available K (AK), and total organic carbon (TOC) were significantly correlated (p < 0.05) with the bacterial community compositions. Our results suggest that the root endophytic microbiome of Lei bamboo was markedly influenced by intensive management practices, and the available nutrient status could be the main driving factor for such shifts. Although heavy fertilization in the intensive management system increased the diversity indices, the rapid changes in root endophyte communities and their relevant functions might indicate a high risk for sustainable management.

Keywords: bacterial community; bamboo forest; intensive management; plant endophyte.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The endophytic microbiome in the Lei bamboo roots at the phylum level. Different letters indicate significant differences among fertilization treatments by one-way ANOVA (LSD, p < 0.05). (a) Proteobactera; (b) Actionobacteria; (c) Firmicutes; (a) Proteobacteria; (b) Actinobacteria; (c) Firmicutes; (d) Bacteroidetes; (e) Acidobacteria; (f) Chloroflexi.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Alpha diversity indices of the bamboo endophytic microbiome in the different intensive management periods and Con. Different letters indicate significant differences among fertilization treatments by one-way ANOVA (LSD, p < 0.05). (a) Shannon index; (b) Chao1 index; (c) observed_species index.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The most differentially abundant taxa were identified by the linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) method among the different intensive management times. Only taxa meeting an linear discriminant analysis (LDA) significance threshold of >4 are shown.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) based on Bray–Curtis distance for the Lei bamboo root endophytic bacterial community structures in the different intensive management periods and Con.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Redundancy analyses of endophytic bacterial community compositions and soil attributes in the Lei bamboo roots.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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