Effects of Soybean Intercropping on Tobacco Leaf Microbial Communities in Different Regions

Soybean intercropping was adopted to address the problem of tobacco continuous cropping. Leaf microbes are crucial for the growth and development of tobacco plants, but the impact of soybean intercropping on the tobacco leaf microbial community remains unclear. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was used to investigate the intercropping tobacco leaf microbial communities at different growth stages and different regions. The changes in the tobacco leaf microbial community during intercropping were explored. The results showed that different growth stages had the greatest impact on the tobacco leaf microbial community, followed by different planting regions, while soybean intercropping treatment had the smallest impact. Interestingly, all grouping strategies altered the structure of the tobacco leaf microbial community but did not affect the structure and function of its core microbial community. Microbial co-occurrence network analysis revealed that soybean intercropping reduced the correlation among core microbial communities. The core fungi and bacteria were identified as Neodidymella and Exiguobacterium, respectively. This study provides data reference for the impact of soybean intercropping on the tobacco leaf microbial community.