Exploring the Influence of Continuous Cropping on Plant Growth, Soil Multifunctional Index, and Active Bacteriome of Pogostemon cablin

Continuous cropping (CC) significantly disrupts agricultural production, leading to soil degradation, yield reduction, bacteriome disruption due to nutrient depletion, pathogen escalations, and shifts in microbial communities. However, these challenges' underlying mechanisms and impacts on Pogostemon cablin remain unclear. To elucidate the mechanisms driving these effects, a greenhouse pot experiment during the rapid growth stage, when CC impacts are most pronounced, employed 13C labeling to trace carbon (C) dynamics, microbial changes, and organic matter decomposition in plant-soil-microbe interactions. In our results, 13C-labeled bacteriome under CC obstacles positively influenced plant growth, soil multifunctionality, microbial diversity, and community composition, emphasizing the importance of a diverse microbial community in fostering ecosystem resilience, nutrient cycling, disease suppression, and overall soil health improvement. Key taxa, such as s_Escherichia_coli, f_Comamonadaceae, f_Planococcaceae, and g_Gaiella, were implicated in these improvements, while Mantel test analyses identified g_Aneurinibacillus, g_Actinomadura, s_Escherichia_coli, Acinetobacter, and Moraxellaceae as crucial contributors to enhanced soil multifunctional indexes. Functional predictions using FAPROTAX revealed increased microbial processes such as nitrogen fixation, aromatic compound degradation, animal parasites or symbionts, nitrogen respiration, and nitrate respiration under 13C-labeled conditions. These findings underscore inter-annual variations in rhizosphere bacteriomes under CC and demonstrate the efficacy of 13C labeling in unraveling carbon turnover and microbial interactions, offering actionable insights into mitigating CC challenges and improving soil health for sustainable agricultural practices.