Soil microbial community structure functional pathways using metagenomics analysis

Continuous cropping (CC) with cotton results in an enrichment the population of Verticillium dahliae in soil, causing the soil-borne disease Verticillium wilt. Crop rotation has been an effective method for controlling the soil-borne disease. However, no information is currently available concerning variations in soil microbial community structure and functional pathways by different planting patterns of cotton. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of cotton-maize rotation (CMR) and cotton-maize-broccoli residues rotation (CMBR) on incidence of cotton verticillium wilt, the population of V. dahliae in soil, soil microbial community structure and functional pathways.