Tea-Soybean Intercropping Improves Tea Quality and Nutrition Uptake by Inducing Changes of Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities
The positive aspects of the tea plant/legume intercropping system draw attention to the Chinese tea industry for its benefit for soil fertility improvement with low fertilizer input. However, limited information exists as to the roles of intercropped legumes in the rhizosphere microbiome and tea qua...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Microorganisms |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/11/2149 |
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| author | Litao Sun Xue Dong Yu Wang Garth Maker Manjree Agarwal Zhaotang Ding |
| author_facet | Litao Sun Xue Dong Yu Wang Garth Maker Manjree Agarwal Zhaotang Ding |
| author_sort | Litao Sun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The positive aspects of the tea plant/legume intercropping system draw attention to the Chinese tea industry for its benefit for soil fertility improvement with low fertilizer input. However, limited information exists as to the roles of intercropped legumes in the rhizosphere microbiome and tea quality. Hereby, soybean was selected as the intercropped plant to investigate its effect on bacterial communities, nutrient competition, tea plant development, and tea quality. Our data showed that intercropped soybean boosted the uptake of nitrogen in tea plants and enhanced the growth of young tea shoots. Nutrient competition for phosphorus and potassium in soil existed between soybeans and tea plants. Moreover, tea/soybean intercropping improved tea quality, manifested by a significantly increased content of non-ester type catechins (C, EGC, EC), total catechins and theanine, and decreased content of ester type catechins (EGCG). Significant differences in rhizobacterial composition were also observed under different systems. At the genus level, the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as <i>Bradyrhizobium, Saccharimonadales</i> and <i>Mycobacterium,</i> was significantly increased with the intercropping system, while the relative abundance of denitrifying bacteria, <i>Pseudogulbenkiania,</i> was markedly decreased. Correlation analysis showed that <i>Pseudogulbenkiania, SBR1031,</i> and <i>Burkholderiaceae</i> clustered together showing a similar correlation with soil physicochemical and tea quality characteristics; however, other differential bacteria showed the opposite pattern. In conclusion, tea/soybean intercropping improves tea quality and nutrition uptake by increasing the relative abundance of beneficial rhizosphere bacteria and decreasing denitrifying bacteria. This study strengthens our understanding of how intercropping system regulate the soil bacterial community to maintain the health of soils in tea plantations and provides the basis for replacing chemical fertilizers and improving the ecosystem in tea plantations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:49:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-57ebc48c483d4911897862ca4b8651d6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2607 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:49:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microorganisms |
| spelling | doaj.art-57ebc48c483d4911897862ca4b8651d62023-11-24T05:56:33ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072022-10-011011214910.3390/microorganisms10112149Tea-Soybean Intercropping Improves Tea Quality and Nutrition Uptake by Inducing Changes of Rhizosphere Bacterial CommunitiesLitao Sun0Xue Dong1Yu Wang2Garth Maker3Manjree Agarwal4Zhaotang Ding5Tea Research Institute, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, ChinaCollege of Food Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210023, ChinaTea Research Institute, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, ChinaCollege of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Perth, WA 6150, AustraliaCollege of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Perth, WA 6150, AustraliaTea Research Institute, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, ChinaThe positive aspects of the tea plant/legume intercropping system draw attention to the Chinese tea industry for its benefit for soil fertility improvement with low fertilizer input. However, limited information exists as to the roles of intercropped legumes in the rhizosphere microbiome and tea quality. Hereby, soybean was selected as the intercropped plant to investigate its effect on bacterial communities, nutrient competition, tea plant development, and tea quality. Our data showed that intercropped soybean boosted the uptake of nitrogen in tea plants and enhanced the growth of young tea shoots. Nutrient competition for phosphorus and potassium in soil existed between soybeans and tea plants. Moreover, tea/soybean intercropping improved tea quality, manifested by a significantly increased content of non-ester type catechins (C, EGC, EC), total catechins and theanine, and decreased content of ester type catechins (EGCG). Significant differences in rhizobacterial composition were also observed under different systems. At the genus level, the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as <i>Bradyrhizobium, Saccharimonadales</i> and <i>Mycobacterium,</i> was significantly increased with the intercropping system, while the relative abundance of denitrifying bacteria, <i>Pseudogulbenkiania,</i> was markedly decreased. Correlation analysis showed that <i>Pseudogulbenkiania, SBR1031,</i> and <i>Burkholderiaceae</i> clustered together showing a similar correlation with soil physicochemical and tea quality characteristics; however, other differential bacteria showed the opposite pattern. In conclusion, tea/soybean intercropping improves tea quality and nutrition uptake by increasing the relative abundance of beneficial rhizosphere bacteria and decreasing denitrifying bacteria. This study strengthens our understanding of how intercropping system regulate the soil bacterial community to maintain the health of soils in tea plantations and provides the basis for replacing chemical fertilizers and improving the ecosystem in tea plantations.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/11/2149tea/soybean intercroppingcatechinstea qualitybacterial communitysoil fertility |
| spellingShingle | Litao Sun Xue Dong Yu Wang Garth Maker Manjree Agarwal Zhaotang Ding Tea-Soybean Intercropping Improves Tea Quality and Nutrition Uptake by Inducing Changes of Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities Microorganisms tea/soybean intercropping catechins tea quality bacterial community soil fertility |
| title | Tea-Soybean Intercropping Improves Tea Quality and Nutrition Uptake by Inducing Changes of Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities |
| title_full | Tea-Soybean Intercropping Improves Tea Quality and Nutrition Uptake by Inducing Changes of Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities |
| title_fullStr | Tea-Soybean Intercropping Improves Tea Quality and Nutrition Uptake by Inducing Changes of Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tea-Soybean Intercropping Improves Tea Quality and Nutrition Uptake by Inducing Changes of Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities |
| title_short | Tea-Soybean Intercropping Improves Tea Quality and Nutrition Uptake by Inducing Changes of Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities |
| title_sort | tea soybean intercropping improves tea quality and nutrition uptake by inducing changes of rhizosphere bacterial communities |
| topic | tea/soybean intercropping catechins tea quality bacterial community soil fertility |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/11/2149 |
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