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. 2023 May 30:14:1163271.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1163271. eCollection 2023.

Variation and stability of rhizosphere bacterial communities of Cucumis crops in association with root-knot nematodes infestation

Liqun Song  1   2   3 , Xingxing Ping  1   2 , Zhenchuan Mao  1   2 , Jianlong Zhao  1   2 , Yuhong Yang  1   2 , Yan Li  1   2 , Bingyan Xie  1   2 , Jian Ling  1   2
Affiliations

Variation and stability of rhizosphere bacterial communities of Cucumis crops in association with root-knot nematodes infestation

Liqun Song et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Introduction: Root-knot nematodes (RKN) disease is a devastating disease in Cucumis crops production. Existing studies have shown that resistant and susceptible crops are enriched with different rhizosphere microorganisms, and microorganisms enriched in resistant crops can antagonize pathogenic bacteria. However, the characteristics of rhizosphere microbial communities of Cucumis crops after RKN infestation remain largely unknown.

Methods: In this study, we compared the changes in rhizosphere bacterial communities between highly RKN-resistant Cucumis metuliferus (cm3) and highly RKN-susceptible Cucumis sativus (cuc) after RKN infection through a pot experiment.

Results: The results showed that the strongest response of rhizosphere bacterial communities of Cucumis crops to RKN infestation occurred during early growth, as evidenced by changes in species diversity and community composition. However, the more stable structure of the rhizosphere bacterial community in cm3 was reflected in less changes in species diversity and community composition after RKN infestation, forming a more complex and positively co-occurrence network than cuc. Moreover, we observed that both cm3 and cuc recruited bacteria after RKN infestation, but the bacteria enriched in cm3 were more abundant including beneficial bacteria Acidobacteria, Nocardioidaceae and Sphingomonadales. In addition, the cuc was enriched with beneficial bacteria Actinobacteria, Bacilli and Cyanobacteria. We also found that more antagonistic bacteria than cuc were screened in cm3 after RKN infestation and most of them were Pseudomonas (Proteobacteria, Pseudomonadaceae), and Proteobacteria were also enriched in cm3 after RKN infestation. We hypothesized that the cooperation between Pseudomonas and the beneficial bacteria in cm3 could inhibit the infestation of RKN.

Discussion: Thus, our results provide valuable insights into the role of rhizosphere bacterial communities on RKN diseases of Cucumis crops, and further studies are needed to clarify the bacterial communities that suppress RKN in Cucumis crops rhizosphere.

Keywords: Cucumis crops; co-occurrence network; rhizosphere bacteria; root-knot nematodes; time dynamic.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Alpha diversity (shannon indices and observed OTU) of bacteria in the rhizosphere at T1 (A, B) and T2 (C, D). Differences between the cm3, cuc, cm3J, cucJ, and bulk soil were indicated in each figure panel (ns p> 0.05, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001). Principal co-ordinates analysis (PCoA) analysis of bacteria at T1 (E, G) and T2 (F) in the rhizosphere of different group on Bray–Curtis distance metrics.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The cm3 and cm3J share the number of OTU species at T1 (A) and T2 (B) and cuc and cucJ share the number of OTU species at T1 (C) and T2 (D). The relative abundance of major bacterial at T1 (phylum level; (E) and T2 (phylum level; (F) taxa present in the rhizosphere of different groups. Circos plot showing the taxonomical relative abundance of the top 10 bacterial microbiome at the class level at T1 (G) and T2 (H). The thickness of each ribbon represents the relative abundance of bacterial assigned to different groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cm3J (A) and cucJ (B) enriched OTU species compared to cuc at T1. STAMP analysis demonstrates differential enrichment of bacteria (class level) in the cm3J (C) and cucJ (D) at T1. Cladogram showing the bacteria phylogenetic structure of cm3J (E) and cucJ (F) with cuc respectively at T1.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Co-occurrence network analysis of the rhizosphere microbial communities of different groups at T1. (A) cm3, (B) cuc, (C) cm3J, (D) cucJ, (E) bulk. The networks were colored based on the taxonomy taxa of bacteria at the phylum level. Edge s indicated correlations, which were divided into positive (green) or negative (red) correlations.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effectiveness of antagonistic bacteria in killing nematodes (A). Statistics of antagonistic bacteria genus in different groups at T1 (B) and T2 (C). -1: T1; -2: T2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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