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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Frontiers in Microbiology

Crop-associated differentiation of rhizosphere microbial communities and soil functional traits in saline-alkaline farmland

  • Xiaoling Zhang1
  • Yuhao Yuan2
  • Yanpeng Shi3
  • Siyuan Chen1
  • Zhijun Gao4
  • Qinghua Yang1
  • Hanghang Hou1
  • Baili Feng1
4 affiliations
  1. 1State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University
  2. 2National Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University
  3. 3Shaanxi Land Engineering Construction Group Co., Ltd.
  4. 4Inner Mongolia Erdos Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Crop Research Institute
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Abstract

Introduction: Saline-alkaline soils constrain crop production, yet it remains unclear how different crops shape rhizosphere conditions, plant ion allocation and microbial communities when grown under the same field background.

Methods: We compared eight crops under uniform saline-alkaline field and management conditions and integrated rhizosphere physicochemical properties, enzyme activities, plant nutrient and ion traits, and bacterial and fungal community characteristics using a multivariate framework.

Results: Crop identity was associated with pronounced differences in nutrient status, salinity, moisture, enzyme activity and Na ⁺ and K ⁺ allocation, and explained 78.1% and 83.5% of bacterial and fungal community variation, respectively. Multiple factor analysis further separated the eight crops into two stable multivariate profiles, one characterized mainly by nutrient and enzyme traits and the other by higher salinity and greater contributions from Na ⁺ allocation traits.

Discussion: These findings demonstrate that crop-associated differentiation in saline-alkaline farmland reflects coordinated variation among soil conditions, plant ion regulation and microbial organization, providing an integrated basis for crop comparison and saline-alkaline soil management.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{zhang2026cropassociated,
  title = {{Crop-associated differentiation of rhizosphere microbial communities and soil functional traits in saline-alkaline farmland}},
  author = {Xiaoling Zhang and Yuhao Yuan and Yanpeng Shi and Siyuan Chen and Zhijun Gao and Qinghua Yang and Hanghang Hou and Baili Feng},
  journal = {Frontiers in Microbiology},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2026.1952914},
  url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1952914/full},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Crop-associated differentiation of rhizosphere microbial communities and soil functional traits in saline-alkaline farmland
AU  - Xiaoling Zhang
AU  - Yuhao Yuan
AU  - Yanpeng Shi
AU  - Siyuan Chen
AU  - Zhijun Gao
AU  - Qinghua Yang
AU  - Hanghang Hou
AU  - Baili Feng
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/15
JO  - Frontiers in Microbiology
DO  - 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1952914
UR  - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1952914/full
AB  - Introduction: Saline-alkaline soils constrain crop production, yet it remains unclear how different crops shape rhizosphere conditions, plant ion allocation and microbial communities when grown under the same field background.  Methods: We compared eight crops under uniform saline-alkaline field and management conditions and integrated rhizosphere physicochemical properties, enzyme activities, plant nutrient and ion traits, and bacterial and fungal community characteristics using a multivariate framework.  Results: Crop identity was associated with pronounced differences in nutrient status, salinity, moisture, enzyme activity and Na ⁺ and K ⁺ allocation, and explained 78.1% and 83.5% of bacterial and fungal community variation, respectively. Multiple factor analysis further separated the eight crops into two stable multivariate profiles, one characterized mainly by nutrient and enzyme traits and the other by higher salinity and greater contributions from Na ⁺ allocation traits.  Discussion: These findings demonstrate that crop-associated differentiation in saline-alkaline farmland reflects coordinated variation among soil conditions, plant ion regulation and microbial organization, providing an integrated basis for crop comparison and saline-alkaline soil management.
SN  - 1664-302X
ER  -