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. 2025 Jun 15;13(6):1396.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13061396.

Synergistic Effects of Different Endophytic Actinobacteria Combined with Organic Fertilizer on Soil Nutrients and Microbial Diversity in Camellia oleifera

Yinghe Peng  1   2 , Kunpeng Cui  3 , Huimin Jian  4 , Zhen Zhang  1   5   6   7 , Longsheng Chen  1   5   6   7 , Yanming Xu  1   5   6   7 , Zhigang Li  1   5   6   7 , Hongsheng Liu  1   5   6   7 , Ting Xu  1   4 , Rui Wang  1   5   6   7
Affiliations

Synergistic Effects of Different Endophytic Actinobacteria Combined with Organic Fertilizer on Soil Nutrients and Microbial Diversity in Camellia oleifera

Yinghe Peng et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Camellia oleifera, a prominent species of edible oil tree in China, depends on improved soil fertility for its sustainable growth. Although the application of bacterial manure has been demonstrated to enhance soil nutrient conditions, the specific contributions of endophytes within fertilizers and their interactions with soil microbial ecosystems remain inadequately explored. This study investigates the impact of organic fertilizers combined with three endophytes (CoT10, CoH27, and CoH17) on the physicochemical properties, enzymatic activities, and microbial diversity of soils in C. oleifera plantations. Findings indicate that the integration of endophytes with organic fertilizers significantly improved soil nutrient levels (including total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and hydrolysable nitrogen), enzymatic activities (such as phosphatase, amylase, and nitrate reductase), and microbial diversity compared to the application of organic fertilizer alone. Notably, the endophyte CoT10, when applied alone with organic fertilizer, resulted in increased levels of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and hydrolysable nitrogen in the soil, as well as a marked enhancement in the activities of soil phosphatase, amylase, and nitrate reductase. Furthermore, the combination of CoT10 with other endophytes in organic fertilizer improved the functionality of the other microorganisms and the efficiency of organic fertilizer utilization. This study underscores the synergistic effects of endophytes and organic fertilizers, providing scientific insights and practical strategies for the sustainable cultivation of C. oleifera.

Keywords: Camellia oleifera; endophytic actinobacteria; microbial diversity; organic fertilizer; soil physicochemical properties.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Soil enzyme activity in Camellia oleifera plantation with organic fertilizer with different endophytes. XL1: CoT10 + fertilizer; XL2: CoH27 + fertilizer; XL3: CoH17 + fertilizer; XL4: CoT10 + CoH27 + fertilizer; XL5: CoT10 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL6: CoH27 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL7: CoT10 + CoH27 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL8: fertilizer only, control; XL9: without any treatment. Standard errors are shown (n = 3). Statistical comparisons with the control were made by the Tukey–Kramer test (* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in composition and diversity of rhizosphere bacterial community in C. oleifera under organic fertilizer with different endophytes. XL1: CoT10 + fertilizer; XL2: CoH27 + fertilizer; XL3: CoH17 + fertilizer; XL4: CoT10 + CoH27 + fertilizer; XL5: CoT10 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL6: CoH27 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL7: CoT10 + CoH27 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL8: fertilizer only, control; XL9: without any treatment.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relative abundance of dominant phyla in soil samples from different treatments in C. oleifera under organic fertilizer with different endophytes. XL1: CoT10 + fertilizers; XL2: CoH27 + fertilizer; XL3: CoH17 + fertilizer; XL4: CoT10 + CoH27 + fertilizer; XL5: CoT10 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL6: CoH27 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL7: CoT10 + CoH27 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL8: fertilizer only, control; XL9: without any treatment.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Redundancy analysis (RDA) for bacterial community (blue asterisk) and physiochemical properties (red arrows) of rhizosphere soil samples across different treatments in C. oleifera under organic fertilizer with endophytes. Physicochemical properties include soil pondus hydrogenii (pH), porosity (PV), soil organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), total potassium (TK), hydrolyzable nitrogen (HN), available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK), iron (Fe), and aluminum (Al). XL1: CoT10 + fertilizer; XL2: CoH27 + fertilizer; XL3: CoH17 + fertilizer; XL4: CoT10 + CoH27 + fertilizer; XL5: CoT10 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL6: CoH27 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL7: CoT10 + CoH27 + CoH17 + fertilizer; XL8: fertilizer only, control; XL9: without any treatments.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Species environmental factor-correlated heat map of rhizosphere soil samples across different treatments in C. oleifera under organic fertilizer with endophytes, where the X and Y axes are environmental factors and species, respectively, and the correlation coefficient R-value and corresponding p-value are obtained by calculation. R-values are shown in different colors in the figure, 0.01 < p ≤ 0.05 *, 0.001 < p ≤ 0.01 **. The upper legend is the color range of different R-values. Cluster analysis of species was performed, as shown in the heat map. Physicochemical properties include soil pondus hydrogenii (pH),porosity (PV), soil organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), total potassium (TK), hydrolyzable nitrogen (HN), available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK), iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), and aluminum (Al).
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