Microbial community variation in rhizosphere and bulk soil of Hippophae rhamnoides across plantation ages

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtag257

J Plant Ecol ›› Advance articles DOI:10.1093/jpe/rtag257

Microbial community variation in rhizosphere and bulk soil of Hippophae rhamnoides across plantation ages

Mingwang Zhou^1#, Zhen'an Yang^2,3#, Mengwen Peng^2,3, Fanyan Ma¹, Guangming Chu^2,3, Junjie Ding⁴, Erxiong Zhu^5,6*, Xiang Huang^2,3*

1. College of Agriculture, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, Xinjiang, China;
2. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, Xinjiang, China;
3. Xinjiang Yuli Desert Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Yuli 841500, Xinjiang, China;
4. Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural and Reclamation Science, Shihezi 832003, China;
5. MEE Key Laboratory of Regional Eco-process and Function Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China;
6. Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, China
^#These authors contributed equally to this work.
^*Correspondence:
Erxiong Zhu,E-mail: zhuerxiong@nwsuaf.edu.cn
^*Correspondence:
Xiang Huang,E-mail: shzu_hx@163.com

Received:2026-04-07 Revised:2026-07-16 Accepted:2026-10-12 Published:2026-10-28
Supported by:
This research was supported by the Science and Technology Plan Project of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (2024DA024), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32360299), the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2025ZNSFSC0255), and the Tianchi Talent Program of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (2023, Zhen’an Yang).

Abstract

Abstract: Hippophae rhamnoides plantations mitigate Gobi expansion and ameliorate soil quality, yet their effects on microbial communities in rhizosphere versus bulk soils across plantation ages remain unclear. Here, we investigated rhizosphere and bulk soils from 4, 12, and 15 yr H. rhamnoides plantations using high-throughput 16S rRNA and ITS sequencing to evaluate microbial succession and soil carbon-nitrogen associations. As stand age increased, the rhizosphere bacterial community shifted from Pseudomonadota to Actinomycetota, whereas fungi remained dominated by Ascomycota. Bacterial and fungal α-diversity showed no significant changes in the rhizosphere, whereas β-diversity indicated that stand age had a significant effect on community composition. In bulk soil, Actinomycetota and Ascomycota remained dominant. Bacterial α-diversity (shannon) significantly increased by 12.21%, whereas fungal α-diversity showed no significant difference; β-diversity was influenced by stand age. Functional analysis showed that rhizosphere bacteria shifted from amino acid synthesis to secondary metabolism and fungi shifted from pathogenic–saprophytic to multi-trophic lifestyles. In bulk soil, bacterial carbon fixation pathways increased, whereas fungi alternated between pathogenic and symbiotic states. Community assembly in rhizosphere bacteria shifted from drift to homogeneous selection and dispersal limitation, whereas rhizosphere fungi and bulk soil communities were governed by homogeneous selection, dispersal limitation, and drift. Total carbon, total nitrogen, and organic carbon increased with stand age. Key microbial groups associated with carbon and nitrogen accumulation shifted across developmental stages, indicating that microbial contributions to soil nutrient dynamics were age-dependent. These findings reveal stand-age-driven microbial succession coupled with nutrient accumulation, offering microbiological evidence for Gobi soil restoration via afforestation.

Hippophae rhamnoides is widely applied for arid ecological restoration. Using 16S rRNA and ITS sequencing, we explored stand-age effects on rhizosphere and bulk soil microbial succession and its soil carbon and nitrogen associations in Gobi plantations. This study offers novel insights into plant-soil-microbe interplay and Gobi restoration.

Key words: Hippophae rhamnoides plantation, high-throughput sequencing, microbial community structure, community assembly, soil carbon and nitrogen coupling

Mingwang Zhou, Zhen'an Yang, Mengwen Peng, Fanyan Ma, Guangming Chu, Junjie Ding, Erxiong Zhu, Xiang Huang. Microbial community variation in rhizosphere and bulk soil of Hippophae rhamnoides across plantation ages[J]. J Plant Ecol, DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtag257.

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Microbial community variation in rhizosphere and bulk soil of Hippophae rhamnoides across plantation ages

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