Changes in Soil Physicochemical Properties and Microbial Communities under Continuous Cropping of Morchella and Their Associated Mechanisms

doi:10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2025-1093

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective Continuous cropping of Morchella leads to a series of problems, including deterioration of soil physicochemical properties and micro-ecological environments, intensified pest and disease outbreaks, and reduced production efficiency. Elucidating the changes in soil physicochemical properties and microbial communities during continuous Morchella cultivation and their correlations, offers a theoretical basis for developing strategies to overcome continuous cropping obstacles. Methods To investigate the impact of continuous cropping, we collected rhizosphere soils from plots with no Morchella (control) and 0–3 consecutive years of Morchella cultivation. We assessed soil physicochemical properties post-fruiting and characterized microbial composition, diversity, and communities structure through 16S rRNA and ITS sequencing. Results Morchella cultivation significantly elevated levels of nitrate nitrogen, exchangeable calcium, available phosphorus, electrical conductivity, and pH, while in parallel, it markedly depleted available copper and iron. Compared to non-cultivated plots, the diversity and abundance of soil bacteria and fungi were significantly reduced in continuous-cropping plots. Specifically, the relative abundance of the Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria phyla increased after Morchella cultivation, whereas that of the Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes phyla decreased. Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Mortierellomycota declined with continuous Morchella cultivation, while the relative abundance of Mucoromycota increased. Changes were observed in 16 different bacterial genera, with significant increases in Acidobacteria_Gp4, Penicillium, and Tetramonas, and significant decreases in Vishniacozyma, Mortierella, Oidiodendron, Talaromyces and Trichocladium. Continuous cropping of Morchella reshaped the co-occurrence patterns of rhizosphere soil microbial communities by strengthening bacterial association networks while weakening fungal association networks. Furthermore, soil pH, exchangeable calcium, available zinc, and electrical conductivity exhibited significant correlations with the differential microbial genera. Conclusion Continuous Morchella cultivation significantly alters soil physicochemical factors, microbial communities structure and its co-occurrence patterns. Moreover, a significant correlation was observed between the soil microbial communities and soil physicochemical properties, and this correlation varied with the duration of cropping. The subsequent deterioration of this interplay may be a primary factor driving the occurrence of continuous cropping obstacles in Morchella.

Key words: Morchella, continuous cropping, soil physicochemical properties, microbial communities, soil-microbe interactions

LIAO Yan-ting, WANG Can-qin, WEI Jiao-jun, ZHAO Cheng-gang, HUANG Shi-lyu, LUO Yang-lan, YAN Yong. Changes in Soil Physicochemical Properties and Microbial Communities under Continuous Cropping of Morchella and Their Associated Mechanisms[J]. Biotechnology Bulletin, 2026, 42(5): 134-146.

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1 Changes in soil physicochemical properties after three years of continuous Morchella croppingCK: Unplanted; NH4+-N: ammonium nitrogen; NO3--N: nitrate nitrogen; AK: available potassium; Exc.Ca:exchangeable calcium; Exc.Mg:exchangeable magnesium; Exc.Na: exchangeable sodium; AP: available phosphorus; AZn: available zinc; ACu: effective copper; AFe: available iron; AMn: available manganese; AB: effective boron; EC: electrical conductivity; OM: organic matter. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences between groups (P<0.05)

Table 1 Rate of change in soil physicochemical properties from 0 to 3 years of continuous Morchella cropping

土壤理化性质变化率 Rate of change in soil physicochemical properties （%）	连作年限 Continuous cropping period（Year）
	0	1	2	3
铵态氮 NH₄⁺-N	-77.76	-71.62	-15.23	15.38
硝态氮 $N O 3 -$ -N	-34.04	-7.61	-3.03	385.75
速效钾 Available potassium	23.34	-24.14	-3.33	19.93
交换性钙 Exchangeable calcium	40.3	13.72	24.63	23.34
交换性镁 Exchangeable magnesium	16.31	-26.81	13.33	-14.42
交换性钠 Exchangeable sodium	-20.25	-28.32	46.48	28.73
有效磷 Available phosphorus	-56.3	46.54	-19.14	15.88
有效锌 Available zinc	-47.46	-21.2	-44.95	-16.36
有效铜 Available copper	-7.84	-22.64	-22.92	-18.4
有效铁 Available iron	-45.95	-31.85	-59.63	-58.28
有效锰 Available manganese	142.2	-13.89	7.96	-47.94
有效硼 Effective boron	192.26	15.55	25.04	17.25
电导率 Electrical conductivity	200.56	123	235.57	207.95
有机质 Organic matter	24.63	-5.49	5.03	9.17
pH	17.02	12.73	15.89	11.94

Table 1 Rate of change in soil physicochemical properties from 0 to 3 years of continuous Morchella cropping

土壤理化性质变化率 Rate of change in soil physicochemical properties （%）	连作年限 Continuous cropping period（Year）
	0	1	2	3
铵态氮 NH₄⁺-N	-77.76	-71.62	-15.23	15.38
硝态氮 $N O 3 -$ -N	-34.04	-7.61	-3.03	385.75
速效钾 Available potassium	23.34	-24.14	-3.33	19.93
交换性钙 Exchangeable calcium	40.3	13.72	24.63	23.34
交换性镁 Exchangeable magnesium	16.31	-26.81	13.33	-14.42
交换性钠 Exchangeable sodium	-20.25	-28.32	46.48	28.73
有效磷 Available phosphorus	-56.3	46.54	-19.14	15.88
有效锌 Available zinc	-47.46	-21.2	-44.95	-16.36
有效铜 Available copper	-7.84	-22.64	-22.92	-18.4
有效铁 Available iron	-45.95	-31.85	-59.63	-58.28
有效锰 Available manganese	142.2	-13.89	7.96	-47.94
有效硼 Effective boron	192.26	15.55	25.04	17.25
电导率 Electrical conductivity	200.56	123	235.57	207.95
有机质 Organic matter	24.63	-5.49	5.03	9.17
pH	17.02	12.73	15.89	11.94

Fig. 2 Changes in the diversity of rhizosphere soil microbial communities after three years of continuous Morchella croppingA: The Chao1 index and Shannon index of bacteria. B: The Chao1 index and Shannon index of fungi. C: The principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of bacteria. D: The principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of fungi

Fig. 3 Column stacking of species abundance of soil rhizosphere microorganisms in 3 years of continuous cropping of MorchellaA: Species distribution of bacteria at the phylum level. B: Species distribution of bacteria at the genus level.C: Species distribution of fungi at the phylum level. D: Species distribution of fungi at the genus level

Fig. 4 Differential bacterial and fungal genera in rhizosphere soil under continuous Morchella cropping

Fig. 5 Co-occurrence network diagram of rhizosphere soil microbial communities under continuous Morchella croppingA: Bacteria. B: Fungi

Table 2 Effects of different treatments on topological indices of soil microbial community networks

物种分类 Taxonomy of species	处理 Treatment	节点数 Number of nodes	边数 Number of edges	平均度 Average degree	网络密度 Network density	模块化 Modularity
细菌 Bacteria	CK	241	2 654	22.025	0.092	0.518
	0Y	311	4 883	31.402	0.101	0.523
	1Y	359	6 091	33.933	0.095	0.510
	2Y	284	3 678	25.901	0.092	0.491
	3Y	408	9 592	47.02	0.116	0.476
真菌 Fungi	CK	226	1 845	16.327	0.073	0.540
	0Y	90	364	8.089	0.091	0.586
	1Y	134	785	11.716	0.088	0.582
	2Y	155	877	11.316	0.073	0.595
	3Y	104	495	9.519	0.092	0.602

Fig. 6 Correlation analysis between soil microbial communities and physicochemical environmental factors under continuous Morchella croppingA: Matrix plot of pairwise comparisons between differential genera and environmental factors in soils under continuous Morchella cropping. The color intensity of the squares indicates the magnitude of the Pearson correlation coefficient, while the shade and thickness of the lines indicate the strength of the Mantel test correlation between the microbial matrix and environmental factors. Darker colors and thicker lines denote stronger correlations(*P<0.05;**P<0.01;***P<0.001). spec01: Sphingomonas、Pedobacter、Arenimonas、Penicillium and Tetracladium; spec02: Massilia, Trichocladium, Oidiodendron and Talaromyces; spec03: Acidobacteria_Gp4、Acidobacteria_Gp7 and Humicola; spec04: Gaiella, Lysobacter, Vishniacozyma and Mortierella.B: Bacterial redundancy analysis plot. C: Fungal redundancy analysis plot

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