Crop-associated differentiation of rhizosphere microbial communities and soil functional traits in saline-alkaline farmland
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 31, 2026

Production of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) Fungal Inoculum and Phenotypic Evaluation of Rice and AM Symbiosis Under Saline Conditions
Published on: March 14, 2025
Xiaoling Zhang1, Yuhao Yuan2, Yanpeng Shi3
1State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
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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