Analysis of Rhizosphere microbial community structure and production performance of different maize varieties

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4867155/v1

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Analysis of Rhizosphere microbial community structure and production performance of different maize varieties

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4867155/v1

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Aims: To clarify the rhizosphere microbial community structure of different maize varieties and its relationship with yield traits.

Methods: The rhizospheremicrobial community structure of seven maize varieties was analysed at seedling and staminate stages using high-throughput sequencing of 16SrDNA and ITS rDNA amplicons to determine maize yield traits and their correlation studies.

Results: Compared with the seedling stage, the relative abundance of Aspergillus phylum and Anaplasma phylum decreased more, Acidobacter phylum bacteria increased more, Sphingomonas spp. and Marseille spp. decreased more, and Acidobacterium RB41 increased more in the same varieties at the male pumping stage. At the male-drawing stage, the relative abundance of Acidobacter RB41 was the highest in all varieties except variety 8; the relative abundance of Sphingomonas spp. was the lowest in variety 2 and the highest in variety 8. The relative abundance of Ascomycetes phylum was the highest in all seven varieties, with the highest in variety 2 at the male-drawing stage, and the male-drawing stage was higher than that at the seedling stage in all varieties except variety 14. s_Pedobacter panaciterrae was positively correlated with yield, s_Spartobacteria bacterium was positively correlated with number of ears,s_Microdochium bolleyi was negatively correlated with water content, and s_ Podospora multipilosa was positively correlated with number of ears.

Conclusion: s_Pedobacter panaciterrae, s_Spartobacteria bacterium have positive role in yield traits, which provides theoretical basis for further development of microbial fertiliser for maize yield increase.

Biological sciences/Microbiology

Biological sciences/Microbiology/Communities

Biological sciences/Microbiology/Communities/Microbiome

Different varieties of maize

16s

Its

Rhizosphere microorganisms

Yield traits

Plant-microbe-soil interactions affect ecosystem function and plant health. Soil microorganisms are important components of soil ecosystems and play an irreplaceable driving role in soil biochemical processes and nutrient cycling(Liang et al. 2017; Liu et al. 2019). Numerous studies have shown that rhizosphere microorganisms play an extremely important role in soil fertility, plant resilience, growth and development as well as productivity(Eisenhaue et al.2012;Wu et al.2014) .Host rhizosphere secretions and soil factors are important drivers of rhizosphere microbial community composition. Plant roots influence the metabolism and population structure of rhizosphere microbial communities through secretions, exudates and plant residues, which in turn change the rhizosphere soil environment. These rhizosphere secretions are mainly organic acids and sugars, but also include amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, monocotyledonins and sesquiterpenes, which are nutrients for inter-root microorganisms or regulating molecules for microbial interactions, and affect the composition and diversity of rhizosphere microbial communities(Doornbos et al.2012).This effect depends firstly on the plant species or genotype. According to Qu et al. (2011), organic acids secreted by the root system of wheat seedlings may promote the drive of beneficial microorganisms like Rhizobiaceae and Burkholderiaceae.

Secondly, plant growth stage, nutritional status, and even different parts of the root may also have an effect. During the root elongation period, the rhizosphere secretion activity of the plant is high, which can alleviate the competition for carbon sources in the root zone and cause a large increase in eutrophic microorganisms (r-strategy); as the secretion of the root system matures and decreases, the composition of the rhizosphere microbial community shifts to oligotrophic taxa (k-strategy).(Munoz-Ucros et al. 2021)Factors such as abiotic plant stress and pathogen attack can shape rhizosphere microbial communities by altering secretion fractions and amounts(Schulz-Bom K et al. 2017). In addition, plant rhizosphere secretion and its mediated changes in rhizosphere microbial communities have some kind of "circadian rhythm", e.g., Arabidopsis rhizosphere microbial communities (especially rare taxa) are strongly influenced by circadian rhythms(Hubbard et al. 2017).

Soil microorganisms are affected by a variety of factors in the soil, such as soil properties, temperature and moisture. Currently, plant-soil organism interactions are a hot research topic in agronomy and ecology(Bardgett et al.2014)。Adesemoye et al. in Plant-Microbe Interactions for Improved Fertiliser Utilisation noted that nitrogen-fixing bacteria such as Rhizobium and Frankensteinella were able to enhance nitrogen uptake by plants and increase crop yields(Adesemoye et al.2009). Jetiyanon et al. Bacillus sphaericus RS87 has the potential to partially replace chemical fertilisers in rice production(Jetiyanon K et al. 2012). Richardson et al. suggested that plants promote plant growth by acquiring phosphorus and nitrogen in inter-root microorganisms.(Richardson et al. 2009)Silva, Grover et al. suggested that rhizosphere microorganisms also have a significant effect on plant resistance to disease, et al. to abiotic stresses(Silva J C P d et al. 2018; Grover M et al.2014).

Maize belongs to the genus Corn, family Gramineae, an annual herbaceous plant, and is one of the most widely planted food crops in the world, as well as a major feed crop and industrial raw material for livestock worldwide, playing a pivotal role in maintaining global food security and economic development(B M T A et al. 2018)Therefore, domestic and international research on maize has been very extensive, focusing on maize introductions, varietal selections, cultivation, planting patterns, resistance, product processing, etc.(Bai et al. 2023; Zhang 2023; Ye et al. 2023; Ma et al. 2023 ; She et al. 2023; Li et al. 2023; Yunfeng J et al. 2021; Nan et al. 2021;Manage et al.2021; Jiayue et al. 2021; Khalid et al. 2021)The research on the relationship between maize and soil microorganisms mainly focuses on the effects of different field management and cropping modes, different developmental stages, domestication, mycorrhizal fungal fertilisers, soil nutrients and amendments, and stress on the structure of soil microbial communities, as well as on microbial effects on maize stress tolerance, drug transmitting ability, growth, development, and productivity.

There are few studies on the rhizosphere microbial community structure of different maize varieties, Xiao Kong et al. (2020) studied the bulk soil, rhizosphere and interleaf microbial communities of three maize varieties. Siphiwe et al. (2023) investigated the diversity and community structure of maize inter-root regulatory microbiome to enhance plant health.To date, the relationship between rhizosphere microbial communities and yield traits in different varieties of maize has not been reported.In view of this, this study investigated the rhizosphere microbial community structure and yield traits of seven maize varieties grown in the experimental base of Xing'anmeng Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Science Research Institute, as well as the correlation between them, with the aim of elucidating the role of changes in the rhizosphere microbial community in the formation of yield traits, and of providing theoretical basis for evaluating the quality of the varieties and for the further development of microbial fungal fertilisers for maize yield increase.

Overview of Experimental Materials and Sites

The materials of this study were JINONGYU 198, TIANNONG 9, NONGHUA 106, SHENYU 335, JINDO 825, RUIFENG 105 and JINYUANYU 177 planted in the experimental base of Xing'anmeng Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Science Research Institute, with inter-root soil collected on 2022.6.27 (seedling stage) and 2022.7.28 (male pumping stage), and numbered as shown in Table 1.This experiment carried out the research on different corn varieties, which is completely in line with the relevant laws and regulations of China and the provisions of the relevant departments. The permission to collect corn plants has been obtained.

Table 1

Details and numbering of experimental materials
maize varieties	Jinongyu198	Tiannong 9	Nonghua106	Xianyu335	Dr King 825	Ruifeng 105	Jinyuan Jade 177
seedling stage	WY2.627	WY3.627	WY8.627	WY9.627	WY13.627	WY14.627	WY15.627
staminate phases	WY2.728	WY3.728	WY8.728	WY9.728	WY13.728	WY14.728	WY15.728

The experimental site is located at latitude 45°43 ~ 46°18 N, longitude 121°53 ~ 122°52 E, spanning six longitude lines from east to west, and has a temperate continental climate. The soil was dominated by calcareous black soil and calcareous chestnut soil, with pH 8.03, organic matter (34.76 g/kg), total nitrogen (N) 3.437 g/kg, total potassium (K) 2.22%, alkaline dissolved nitrogen (ADN) 252.54 mg/kg, effective phosphorus (EP) 20.78 mg/kg, and fast-acting potassium (FK) 88.75 mg/kg.

Three plots of each variety were planted as replicates, each plot was 0.20 hm² in size. large and small plots were planted with row spacing of 80 cm, small plots with row spacing of 40 cm and plant spacing of 24.7 cm.

Experimental Methods

Collection of rhizosphere soil and analysis of microbial community structure

Each sample was collected using the 5-point sampling method. After removing the dead leaves on the ground and shovelling out the floating soil on the surface, the soil was shovelled up with roots at a root depth of 10 ~ 20 cm at a distance of 10 c m from around the plant, and the soil and soil part scraped off from the root system after shaking to remove the large pieces of soil and debris were considered as the rhizosphere soil samples. The samples were put into sterile bags and sent to Nanjing Jisi Huiyuan Biotechnology Co., Ltd. for DNA extraction and high-throughput sequencing of 16SrDNAV3-V4 and ITSrDNA1 amplicons.

Indicators for measuring production performance

The number of ears, ear weight (kg), 20 ear weight (kg), axle weight (kg), seed yield (%), moisture (%), and yield (kg/hm²) of maize were determined at maturity in accordance with the Measures for Measuring and Acceptance of China's High-Yield Grain Creation (for trial use)^[23] .

The number of corn ears: the total number of ears actually harvested per unit area, counted at harvest.

Ear weight (kg): The total harvested ear weight per unit area, measured using an electronic platform scale with an accuracy of 0.05. Axle weight (kg): The axle weight of a 20 ear sample after threshing.

Seed yield (%): Seed yield (%)=[20 ear weight (kg) - axle weight (kg)]/20 ear weight (kg),Moisture: Use a moisture meter to measure the moisture content at harvest, measure three times for each treatment, and take the average value.

Yield (kg/hm²): Yield (kg/hm²) = panicle weight (kg)/unit harvest area (hm²) × 10000 × Seed yield (%) × [1- Moisture (%)] ÷ (1–14%), (14% was the default moisture value for corn).

In order to clarify whether there is a real correlation between maize inter-root microbial community structure and crop maize traits, we did correlation analyses between maize inter-root dominant bacteria with TOP20 and maize cob number, cob weight (kg), seed yield (%), moisture (%) and yield (kg/hm²).

Differences in rhizosphere biome composition of different maize varieties

At the level of bacterial phyla, the order of the main dominant species groups at both seedling and staminate stages of maize was: Aspergillus phyla, Acidobacteria phyla, Actinobacteria phyla, and Anaplasma phyla. Compared to the seedling stage, the relative abundance of Aspergillus and Acidobacteria phylum decreased and Acidobacteria phylum bacteria elevated more during the male pumping stage; Cyanobacteria, fibrobacterota, Elusimicrobiota, desulfobacterota, and Aromatimonodote relative abundance was lower (Fig. 1A, Fig. 2A ). At the genus level, the order of the main dominant populations at the seedling stage was Sphingomonas spp, Marseille spp, Rhodobacter spp, and Pseudomonas spp. Burkholderia were more abundant in varieties 3 and 14; the order of the main dominant populations at the staminate stage was: Sphingomonas spp, Acidobacterium RB41, and Vicinamibacteraceae spp. Acidobacterium RB41 had the highest relative abundance in all the varieties except variety 8; the relative abundance of Sphingomonas spp. was the lowest in variety 2 and the highest in variety 8. Compared to the seedling stage, the relative abundance of Sphingomonas spp., Masaiella spp., Burkholderia spp., Mucor spp., Bacteroidetes spp., Flavobacterium spp., and Streptomyces spp. decreased during the staminate stage, and Acidobacterium spp. RB41, Vicinamibacteraceae, Rhodobacter spp., and Pseudomonas spp. increased (Fig. 1B, Fig. 2B).

At the level of fungal phyla, the main dominant species groups were in the following order: Ascomycota, Stramonium and Spliceophyta, etc. The relative abundance of Ascomycota was the highest in WY2.728; the relative abundance of Chytridiomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Glomeromycota, and Proteobacteria was lower (Figs. 1C, 2C). At the genus level, the order of the main dominant species groups was: Fusarium spp, Tephritidium spp, and Equisetum spp. Equisetum spp. WY8.728, Verticillium spp. WY9.728, and Ranjouhou yeast spp. WY2.728 were the most highly abundant in terms of relative abundance (Fig. 1D, Fig. 2D).

Differences in rhizosphere microbial community structure of different maize varieties

The number of rhizosphere bacteria common to different varieties of maize at seedling and staminate stages was 0 (Fig. 3), and the analysis of each diversity is shown in Fig. 4. In Simpson's index, the differences between WY14.627 and WY 8.627 were significant; the differences between WY8.728 and WY9.728, WY15.728 were all highly significant, and the differences with WY14.728 were significant. in ACE index The differences were all highly significant between WY2.728 and WY14.728, WY3.728 and WY14.728, significant between WY8.728 and WY9.728, WY3.728, WWY14.728, significant between WY9.728 and WY14.728, and significant between WY14.728 and WY15.728.CHAO1 index the differences between WY14.728 and WY2.728, WY8.728 are all highly significant, WY3.728 and WY8.728, WY14.728 are significantly different, WY8.728 and WY9.728 are significantly different, WY14.728 and WY9.728, WY15.728 are significantly different.Shannon index in the WY8.728 differed highly significantly from WY9.728 and WY8.728 differed significantly from WY3.728, WY14.728 and WY15.728. The Shannon index of variety 3 and 13, Simpson index of varieties 3, 13 and 14, ACE index and CHAO1 index of variety 13 were not significant, except for the Shannon index of variety 3 and 13, Simpson index of varieties 3, 13 and 14, and the ACE index and CHAO1 index of variety 13 were not significant, while all indices of all varieties were elevated when compared with the seedling stage.

The total number of fungi shared by different varieties of maize in the rhizosphere at seedling and staminate stages was 103 (Fig. 3), and each diversity index is shown in Fig. 4. In the ACE index and CHAO1 index, the differences between WY3.627 and WY14.627 were significant; the differences between WY3.728 and WY13.728 and WY14.728 were significant; the differences between WY8.728 and WY13.728 were highly significant, and the differences between WY8.728 and WY14.728 were significant; and the differences between the CHAO1 indexes of WY13.728 and WY15.728 were significant. Shannon's index of WY8.728 differed highly significantly from WY13.728 and WY14.728; WY14.627 differed significantly from WY8.627 and WY15.627; and WY15.728 differed significantly from WY13.728 and WY14.728.WY15.728 differed from WY13.728, WY14.728 Simpson's index were all significantly different. Figure 5. illustrates the fungal diversity indexThe ACE index of varieties 3 and 8, and the CHAO1 index of varieties 3, 8 and 15 were significantly lower compared with those at the staminate and seedling stages; the Shannon index of variety 13 was significantly higher; the Simpson index was significantly higher for varieties 13 and 14 and significantly lower for variety 15.

Analysis of differential species and functions of rhizosphere microbial communities of different maize varieties

LEfSe analysis revealed (Fig. 6) that there were 98 and 243 significantly different bacteria with LDA values of ≧ 3.0 at seedling and staminate stages, respectively, among different varieties of maize, and the order of their numbers was as follows: WY2.728 (74) > WY3.728 (39) > WY15.728 (37) > WY13.728 (36) > WY9.728 (26) > WY8.728 (22) and WY13.627 (22) > WY2.627 (21) > WY8.627 (18) > WY14.627 (16) > WY9.627 (13) > WY14.728 (9) > WY3.627 (7) > WY15.627 (1). The order of increase in the number of significantly different bacteria at staminate stage compared to seedling stage was: variety 2 (53) > variety 15 (36) > variety 3 (32) > variety 9 (13) > variety 13 (14) > variety 8 (4) > variety 14 (-7). It can be seen that the number of significantly different bacteria increased at the staminate stage than at the seedling stage for all six varieties except variety 14

There were 92 and 80 significantly different fungi with LDA values of ≧ 3.0 at seedling and staminate stages, respectively, between different varieties of maize in the following order of number: WY13.627 (20) and WY2.728 (20) > WY3.627 (18) > WY9.728 (15) > WY2.627 (13) > WY15.627 (12) and WY13.728 ( 12) > WY8.728 (11), WY8.627 (11) and WY14.627 (11) > WY15.728 (9) and WY14.728 (9) > WY9.627 (7) > WY3.728 (4). The order of change in the number of significantly different fungi at staminate stage compared to seedling stage was Pin variety 3 (14) > variety 13 (8) > variety 15 (3) > variety 14 (2) > variety 8 (0) > variety 2 (-7) > variety 9 (-8). It can be seen that there is no change in variety 8, increase in varieties 3, 13, 15 and 14 and decrease in varieties 9 and 2.

The abundance of KEGG primary functions related to metabolism, environmental information processing, cellular processes, and genetic information processing in the bacterial community varied between samples, with Metabolism having the highest abundance (Fig. 7A). Secondary function abundance did not vary significantly between samples (Fig. 7B).

The main fungal taxa predicted in this study were: saprotrophic, pathotrophic, symbiotrophic, patho- saprotrophic, patho-symbiotrophic, saprotrophic-symbiotic, patho- saprotrophic-symbiotic, and patho- saprotrophic-symbiotic, a total of seven trophic groups.Saprotroph had the highest abundance in WY9.627 and WY14.728, while Saprotroph- Symbiotroph was also highest in WY9.627. The highest abundance of Pathotroph-Symbiotroph could be observed at WY9.728 (Fig. 7C).

Subclass analysis of functional groups revealed that the dominant functional groups for each sample were Undefined Saprotroph, Plant Pathogen, Animal Pathogen-Endophyte-Lichen Parasite -Plant Pathogen-Soil Saprotroph-Wood Saprotroph. ectomycorrhizal-Undefined for WY9.728 Saprotroph had the highest abundance (Fig. 7D).

Differences in yield traits of different varieties of maize

Different varieties of maize production performance varies greatly, nine varieties of maize mu yield in descending order: variety 2 > variety 14 > variety 8 > variety 15 > variety 3 > variety 9 > variety 13 (Table 2), and variety 2, variety 14 and variety 8 are significantly higher than the variety 13 and variety 9. variety 3 of the number of ears is significantly higher than variety 14, variety 13 and variety 9. variety 2, variety 3, variety 8 and variety 14 had significantly higher spike weight (kg) than variety 9, variety 13 variety 15. The 20 spike weight (kg) of variety 8 was significantly higher than that of variety 3, variety 13 and variety 15 and variety 9. Axle weight (kg) was significantly higher in variety 8 than that of varieties 14, 13 and 15, variety 2 and variety 9; and was significantly higher in variety 2, 13 and 9 than that of variety 15. Seed emergence (%) was significantly higher in variety 15 than that of variety 14, 13, 8, 3 and 9; and was significantly higher in variety 14 and 9 than that of variety 13 and 15. Variety 9; Variety 14 and Variety 9 were significantly higher than Variety 3; Variety 2 was significantly higher than Variety 8 and Variety 13. Except Variety 2, Variety 8 had significantly higher moisture (%) than the other five varieties.

Table 2

Measurement of Production Performance of Different Corn Varieties
breed	spike number	Ear weight (kg)	20ears weight (kg)	Axle weight (kg)	Seed yield (%)	Moisture content (%)	Yield (kg/mu)
2	66.67 ± 5.13A^B	20.03 ± 0.98^A	6.02 ± 0.20^AB	0.99 ± 0.07^C	83.49 ± 1.17^AB	27.40 ± 0.46^B	11223.75 ± 508.65^A
3	75.00 ± 3.46^A	19.64 ± 1.25^A	5.24 ± 0.11^BC	1.29 ± 0.02^AB	75.29 ± 0.40^D	27.3 ± 1.45B	10426.8 ± 836.40^AB
8	66.67 ± 5.13^AB	21.87 ± 0.25^A	6.59 ± 0.58^A	1.39 ± 0.19^A	78.39 ± 2.11^CD	31.40 ± 2.26^A	11395.95 ± 554.1^A
13	64.00 + 2.00^B	14.73 ± 1.25^B	4.60 ± 0.27^C	1.00 ± 0.08^C	78.35 ± 0.62^CD	26.53 ± 2.27^B	8202.60 ± 420.00^C
14	65.33 ± 4.16^B	19.10 ± 0.89^A	5.85 ± 0.20^AB	1.11 ± 0.11^BC	80.98 ± 1.79^BC	23.83 ± 0.95^B	11407.20 ± 269.85^A
15	68.33 ± 4.51^AB	15.73 ± 0.55^B	4.61 ± 0.14^C	0.65 ± 0.04^D	86.17 ± 0.63^A	17.87 ± 0.93^C	10792.20 ± 453.60^AB
9	64.67 ± 6.35^B	15.60 ± 1.91^B	4.83 ± 0.54^C	0.90 ± 0.02^C	81.31 ± 1.89^BC	25.57 ± 1.22^B	9153.15 ± 1188.75^BC

Figure 8 shows, maize traits cob weight, cob number, seed yield, moisture and yield correlation analysis, it can be seen that cob weight and yield into a significant positive correlation r-value of 0.92, the number of cobs and yield into a positive correlation r-value of 0.50, seed yield and moisture and yield correlation r-value is not 0.15 and 0.18 respectively.

Correlation analysis between rhizosphere microbial community and production performance of different maize varieties

In the analysis of correlation between TOP 20 bacteria and production performance in the rhizosphere of different maize varieties, four bacteria were correlated with yield traits, of which s_Pedobacter panaciterrae positively correlated with yield, s_Pedobacter ginsengisoli was positively correlated with water score, s_Spartobacteria bacterium was positively correlated with the number of spikes, and s_planctomycete WY108 was negatively correlated with seed yield (Fig. 9A). Six fungal species were associated with yield traits, of which s_ Gibberella intricans was negatively correlated with seed emergence, s_ Pleosporaceae sp. RS_5 was negatively correlated with spike weight, s_fungal_sp._38_CC_06_28 was positively correlated with water content, s_ Mortierella amoeboidea was negatively correlated with spike number, s_Microdochium bolleyi was negatively correlated with water score, and s_ Podospora multipilosa was positively correlated with spike number (Fig. 9B).

Different plant species and microbial communities

Soil health is one of the most important requisites for crop growth in agricultural systems, and changes in community structure and diversity of soil microorganisms can reflect the internal stability of soil ecosystems, the buffering capacity of soils against ecological degradation, and the nutrient status of soils, and are considered to be one of the potentially most sensitive bioindicators (Elsas et al. 2006; Sun et al. 1999; Jiang et al. 2016). Plant roots will regulate and influence the number, species and ecological distribution of rhizosphere microorganisms through secretions (Sun et al.2015; Zhou et al.2012), and also serve as recruitment sites for microorganisms with desirable functions. We found that the bacterial populations were similar among different maize varieties, but the relative abundance varied, with Aspergillus phylum and Acidobacterium phylum as the top 2 dominant bacterial populations at the seedling and staminate stages, which is consistent with Siphiwe's study on maize rhizosphere to regulate the diversity of microbiomes and the community structure to enhance plant health, and the results of 29(Li et a. l2022) in the study on the structure and diversity characteristics of the soil bacterial communities in different tea tree varieties. Diversity characterisation study results are consistent and may imply that species or varieties have less effect on rhizosphere bacteria at the gate level.At the genus level different varieties of maize had Sphingomonas spp., Masaiella spp., Rhodobacter spp. and Pseudomonas spp. as the main dominant populations at the seedling stage, and Sphingomonas spp., Acidobacterium spp. RB41, and Vicinamibacteraceae spp. as the dominant genera at the male pumping stage, which is not in agreement with the results of the study by Lai Lane Ru and Nong Zemei on the inter-root soil bacterial population structure of different varieties of sugarcane, which may be related with the The soil environment of the study may be related to, and may also indicate that the level of bacterial genera in the rhizosphere is strongly influenced by different plant species and varieties.

The relative abundance of maize fungi at the phylum level and genus level varied across varieties, which is consistent with the finding of (Violeta et al. 2021) (The influence of maize genotype on the rhizosphere eukaryotic community) that differences in maize genotypes result in differences in the structure and diversity of the rhizosphere eukaryotic community. structure and diversity differences were consistent. Most of the diversity indices of the same variety at different growth periods and among maize varieties at the same growth period were significantly different, which is consistent with the results of (Nong et al.2020) This suggests that both the growth period and different maize varieties have an effect on the rhizosphere microbial diversity; the values of the CHAO index and Shannon's index at both the seedling stage and the staminate stage of our results were higher than those reported by (Nong et al. 2020) which may be related to the different plant types and environments. different plant types and environments. The number of bacteria and fungi with significantly different functions in the rhizosphere of different varieties of maize varied, but the differences in the abundance of bacterial functional groups were small, whereas the abundance of fungal functional groups varied greatly, and the proportion of each trophic type differed in different varieties of maize and at different times, which was different from that reported by (Aliya et al. 2023) .

The above results fully revealed that maize varieties affect microbial community composition, structure and function, whether this is due to different plant varieties resulting in different rhizosphere secretions or different content and different recruitment of microorganisms, we need to further explore the chemical composition of root secretions and their role in shaping the microbial community.

Different microbial communities and maize productivity

Maize is one of the most important grain crops in the world, and the yield of maize is mainly determined by the number of ears per unit area, the number of grains per ear, the seed yield, the water content, and the weight of the ear together (Tsimba et al. 2013a; Tsimba et al. 2013b), and the coordinated development among the indicators is the basis for maize to achieve high yield. While Ren believes that maize yield mainly depends on the effective number of ears per unit area, the number of grains per ear, and the 100-grain weight (Ren H et al. 2020; Zhang et al. 2020)

(Morgan J et al. 2005; Chaparro J M et al. 2012) concluded that inter-root soil microorganisms are able to activate soil nutrients and promote nutrient uptake by the plant root system, thus affecting plant growth and development as well as final yield and quality.

In order to investigate the indicators related to maize yield and the effect of different microbial communities on it, we found through correlation analysis that cob weight was significantly and positively correlated with yield (r = 0.92), the number of cobs was positively correlated with yield (r = 0.50), whereas seed yield and moisture were not correlated with yield (r = 0.15 and 0.18), so it is clear that the most important factor affecting yield among the several factors examined was cob weight, followed by cob number, in agreement with the findings of Tsimba et al. Correlation analysis using TOP20 dominant bacteria with maize yield and yield traits revealed that s_Pedobacter panaciterrae was directly and positively correlated with yield, s_ Podospora multipilosa and s_ Spartobacteria bacterium were positively correlated with the number of ears, s_ Microdochium bolleyi was negatively correlated with water content, while s_ Mortierella amoeboidea was negatively correlated with spike number, s_ planctomycete WY108 and s_ Gibberella intricans with seed yield, and s_ Pleosporaceae sp. RS_5 with spike weight negatively correlated with seed emergence, s_Pedobacter ginsengisolis and fungal_sp._38_CC_06_28 positively correlated with water score. From the analyses, s_Pedobacter panaciterrae, s_ Podospora multipilosa, and s_ Spartobacteria bacterium contributed to maize yield, s_ Mortierella amoeboidea, s_ Pleosporaceae s_ RS_5 lead to the reduction of maize yield, therefore, based on the existing production performance, we can try to develop microbial fertilisers (agents) to further enhance the maize yield by adjusting the rhizosphere microbial community structure.

In this study, we assessed the structure of rhizosphere microbial communities and their potential influence on yield traits in seven maize varieties. The results showed that the seven maize varieties differed in root secretion resulting in adjustments in the diversity, composition and potential function of the recruited rhizosphere microbial communities, especially for the recruitment of functional communities of rhizosphere fungi. maize yields differed among the seven varieties, with higher yielding Variety 2, Variety 14, and Variety 8 reflecting a trend towards higher microbial diversity or relative abundance of dominant fungi. Correlation analysis showed that s_Pedobacter panaciterrae, s_Spartobacteria bacterium, s_Microdochium bolleyi and s_ Podospora multipilosa were favourable for yield enhancement.

This study contributes to our understanding of rhizosphere microbial-crop interactions and their functions in crop health and production, and lays the foundation for further development of these microbes to regulate sustainable agriculture.

Material Statement

This experiment carried out the research on different corn varieties, which is completely in line with the relevant laws and regulations of China and the provisions of the relevant departments. The permission to collect corn plants has been obtained.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding authors.

Author Contribution

The name of the article we submitted isAnalysis on the Structure and Production Performance of Rhizosphere Microbial Community in Different Varieties of Maize.The authors of the article areWang Guihua, Feng Shilin, Han Xiaodong, Lv Qiushi, You Yanhua, Huang Tiantian, Zhao Guofen。GW: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing,Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology. SF: Writing –original draft, Writing – review & editing, Investigation. XH:Writing – review &editing.LQ：Writing – original draft.YH：Writing – original draft.HT：Writing – original draft.

Data Availability

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding authors.

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Analysis of Rhizosphere microbial community structure and production performance of different maize varieties

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