C. argentea rhizosphere microbial succession in HM-contaminated soil

Healthy C. argentea seedlings were transplanted into pots containing 1.5 kg of HM-contaminated soil (described in Section 2.1). Two experimental groups were established: the inoculated group (n = 16) received 50 mL of a B. megaterium suspension (OD600 = 1.0), and the control group (n = 8) received an equal volume of heat-inactivated bacterial suspension. Rhizosphere soil samples from the inoculated group were collected at the end of the study weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4, whereas samples from the control group were collected only at the end of the 1st and 4th weeks.