Sugarcane–peanut intercropping improves rhizosphere fungal communities and metabolites following long-term continuous peanut monoculture
6 affiliations
- 1Xianghu Laboratory, Zhejiang Provincial Laboratory of Agriculture
- 2National Engineering Research Center for Sugarcane, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
- 3School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University
- 4Cash Crops Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences
- 5State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agri-Biological Resources, Guangxi University
- 6Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Key Laboratory of Detection for Mycotoxins, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Background: Sugarcane-peanut intercropping improves land use efficiency and crop productivity, yet the rhizosphere mechanisms through which this system alleviates continuous peanut monoculture soil sickness and regulates rhizosphere fungal-metabolite balance remain poorly understood.
Methods: This study integrated amplicon sequencing and untargeted metabolomics to investigate fungal community dynamics and metabolite profiles in the peanut rhizosphere under monoculture and three intercropping row spacings (2.0 m, 2.4 m, and 3.0 m).
Results: Intercropping produced coordinated, row-spacing-dependent shifts in peanut rhizosphere fungal taxa, metabolite profiles, land-use efficiency, and kernel quality. Although overall fungal and metabolite beta-diversity differences were not significant, SP2.4 showed the largest set of differentially abundant fungal taxa, while SP2.0 achieved the highest land equivalent ratio. Across spacings, intercropping depleted several Aspergillus and Fusarium taxa and enriched candidate beneficial fungi, including Trichoderma species. Untargeted metabolomics further revealed spacing-specific enrichment of phenolic, stilbenoid, and terpenoid compounds with reported roles in plant defense or fungal inhibition. A feature putatively annotated as aflatoxin B ₁ by untargeted LC–MS/MS library matching was less abundant under intercropping. Together, the results indicate that sugarcane–peanut intercropping can improve the rhizosphere microecological state of long-term monocropped peanut fields through coordinated fungal and metabolic reorganization. A row-spacing window of 2.0–2.4 m provided the most favorable balance between system productivity and belowground microecological improvement.
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BibTeX
@article{pang2026sugarcanepeanut,
title = {{Sugarcane–peanut intercropping improves rhizosphere fungal communities and metabolites following long-term continuous peanut monoculture}},
author = {Ziqin Pang and Manqian Cha and Yongxin Lin and Xiumei Tang and Yongmei Zhou and Zhaonian Yuan and Jiapan Lian and Ronghua Tang and Tao Wang and Qi Zhang and Antonio Francesco Logrieco and Xiao Wang and Peiwu Li},
journal = {Frontiers in Microbiology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2026.1957778},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1957778/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Sugarcane–peanut intercropping improves rhizosphere fungal communities and metabolites following long-term continuous peanut monoculture
AU - Ziqin Pang
AU - Manqian Cha
AU - Yongxin Lin
AU - Xiumei Tang
AU - Yongmei Zhou
AU - Zhaonian Yuan
AU - Jiapan Lian
AU - Ronghua Tang
AU - Tao Wang
AU - Qi Zhang
AU - Antonio Francesco Logrieco
AU - Xiao Wang
AU - Peiwu Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Frontiers in Microbiology
DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1957778
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1957778/full
AB - Background: Sugarcane-peanut intercropping improves land use efficiency and crop productivity, yet the rhizosphere mechanisms through which this system alleviates continuous peanut monoculture soil sickness and regulates rhizosphere fungal-metabolite balance remain poorly understood. Methods: This study integrated amplicon sequencing and untargeted metabolomics to investigate fungal community dynamics and metabolite profiles in the peanut rhizosphere under monoculture and three intercropping row spacings (2.0 m, 2.4 m, and 3.0 m). Results: Intercropping produced coordinated, row-spacing-dependent shifts in peanut rhizosphere fungal taxa, metabolite profiles, land-use efficiency, and kernel quality. Although overall fungal and metabolite beta-diversity differences were not significant, SP2.4 showed the largest set of differentially abundant fungal taxa, while SP2.0 achieved the highest land equivalent ratio. Across spacings, intercropping depleted several Aspergillus and Fusarium taxa and enriched candidate beneficial fungi, including Trichoderma species. Untargeted metabolomics further revealed spacing-specific enrichment of phenolic, stilbenoid, and terpenoid compounds with reported roles in plant defense or fungal inhibition. A feature putatively annotated as aflatoxin B ₁ by untargeted LC–MS/MS library matching was less abundant under intercropping. Together, the results indicate that sugarcane–peanut intercropping can improve the rhizosphere microecological state of long-term monocropped peanut fields through coordinated fungal and metabolic reorganization. A row-spacing window of 2.0–2.4 m provided the most favorable balance between system productivity and belowground microecological improvement.
SN - 1664-302X
ER -