Microbial Communities and Functional Traits in the Rhizosphere of Healthy and Diseased Peach Orchards

This project investigates the structure and functional potential of rhizosphere microbial communities associated with healthy and diseased peach trees affected by spongy flesh disease. Using high-throughput sequencing and metagenomic analysis, we compared the microbial diversity, taxonomic composition, and predicted functional traits between disease-susceptible and disease-resistant rhizospheres. Results showed that healthy trees harbored more diverse and cooperative microbial consortia, enriched in taxa associated with plant growth promotion and disease suppression. Functional predictions revealed elevated abundance of genes related to siderophore production, auxin biosynthesis, phosphate solubilization, and stress mitigation. These findings enhance our understanding of soil microbiome-mediated disease resistance and offer insights for microbiome-based management of fruit quality in peach orchards.