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. 2025 Jul 10;13(7):1637.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13071637.

Comparative Analysis of Soil Microbial Community Structures in Rhizosphere of Two Texture-Differentiated Lotus Root Varieties

Xinni Li  1 , Qiyue Liang  1 , Meiping Gao  2 , Yangxiu Ou  2 , Yifeng Hu  2 , Wen Jiang  2 , Huiping Jiang  2 , Shangdong Yang  1
Affiliations

Comparative Analysis of Soil Microbial Community Structures in Rhizosphere of Two Texture-Differentiated Lotus Root Varieties

Xinni Li et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

To investigate the relationship between the rhizosphere microbial community structure and lotus root texture, the biological properties, and the rhizosphere microbial composition of mealy (ML) and crunchy lotus (CL) varieties were all analyzed using traditional and high-throughput sequencing technologies. The results showed that the ML varieties exhibited significantly lower moisture but higher starch contents than those of CL. Meanwhile, the rhizosphere fungal richness of ML was also significantly higher than that of CL. Moreover, the relative abundances of bacterial phyla and genera, such as Nitrospirota, Bacteroidota, Proteobacteria, and Bacillus, alongside fungal phyla and genera, i.e., Ascomycota and Emericellopsis, were enriched in rhizosphere of ML compared to CL. Functional prediction also revealed that elevated nitrogen cycling, polysaccharide degradation and cellulose breakdown functions could be detected in ML, potentially driving starch accumulation and cell wall modification. These results suggest that rhizosphere microbial composition, particularly nitrogen-cycling bacteria and lignocellulose-degrading fungi, may contribute to texture formation between texture-differentiated lotus root varieties.

Keywords: lotus root; microbial compositions; polysaccharides; rhizosphere; texture variation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Biological characteristics of different varieties of lotus roots. ML: mealy lotus varieties; CL: crunchy lotus varieties. All data are presented as the mean ± SD (standard deviation). Different letters in the column indicate significant differences among treatments at p < 0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of the soil bacterial and fungal compositions among ML, CL, and CK. PLS-DA score plot of the soil bacterial (a) and fungal (b) communities among ML, CL, and CK. ML: mealy lotus varieties; CL: crunchy lotus varieties.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Compositions of rhizosphere soil bacterial communities at the phylum level; (b) compositions of rhizosphere soil bacterial communities at the genus level. (c) Compositions of rhizosphere soil fungal communities at the phylum level; (d) compositions of rhizosphere soil fungal communities at the genus level. ML: mealy lotus varieties, CL: crunchy lotus varieties.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Compositions of rhizosphere soil bacterial communities at the phylum level; (b) compositions of rhizosphere soil bacterial communities at the genus level. (c) Compositions of rhizosphere soil fungal communities at the phylum level; (d) compositions of rhizosphere soil fungal communities at the genus level. ML: mealy lotus varieties, CL: crunchy lotus varieties.
Figure 4
Figure 4
LEfSe analysis of soil bacteria (a) and fungi (b) in rhizospheres between ML and CL varieties. ML: mealy lotus varieties; CL: crunchy lotus varieties.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) Venn diagram analyses of soil bacteria at the genus level. (b) Venn diagram analyses of soil bacteria at the OTU level. (c) Venn diagram analyses of soil fungi at the genus level. (d) Venn diagram analyses of soil fungi at the OTU level. ML: mealy lotus varieties; CL: crunchy lotus varieties.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Functional predictions of soil bacterial and fungal communities in rhizospheres of ML and CL. Compositional variability test for bacterial (a,b) and fungal (c) communities. ML: mealy lotus varieties; CL: crunchy lotus varieties.
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