Characterization and Comparison of the Bacterial Communities of Rhizosphere and Bulk Soils from Cadmium-Polluted Wheat Fields

Cadmium pollution is becoming a serious problem due to its nondegradability and substantial negative influence on the normal growth of crops, thereby harming human health through the food chain. Rhizospheric bacteria play important roles in crop tolerance. However, there is little experimental evidence which demonstrates how various cadmium concentrations affect the bacterial community in addition to the relationship between rhizosphere microorganisms and nonrhizosphere microorganisms in wheat fields. In this study, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing technology was used to investigate bacterial communities in rhizosphere and bulk soils under different levels of pollution in terms of cadmium concentration.