Data_Sheet_1_Diversity in rhizospheric microbial communities in tea varieties at different locations and tapping potential beneficial microorganisms.XLSX

Soil microenvironments and plant varieties could largely affect rhizosphere microbial community structure and functions. However, their specific effects on the tea rhizosphere microbial community are yet not clear. Beneficial microorganisms are important groups of microbial communities that hold ecological functionalities by playing critical roles in plant disease resistance, and environmental stress tolerance. Longjing43 and Zhongcha108 are two widely planted tea varieties in China. Although Zhongcha108 shows higher disease resistance than Longjing43, the potential role of beneficial tea rhizosphere microbes in disease resistance is largely unknown. In this study, the structure and function of rhizosphere microbial communities of these two tea varieties were compared by using the Illumina MiSeq sequencing (16S rRNA gene and ITS) technologies. Rhizosphere soil was collected from four independent tea gardens distributed at two locations in Hangzhou and Shengzhou cities in eastern China, Longjing43 and Zhongcha108 are planted at both locations in separate gardens. Significant differences in soil physicochemical properties as demonstrated by ANOVA and PCA, and distinct rhizosphere microbial communities by multiple-biotech analyses (PCoA, LEfSe, Co-occurrence network analyses) between both locations and tea varieties (p < 0.01) were found. Functions of bacteria were annotated by the FAPROTAX database, and a higher abundance of Nitrososphaeraceae relating to soil ecological function was found in rhizosphere soil in Hangzhou. LDA effect size showed that the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) was higher in Zhongcha108 than that in Longjing43. Field experiments further confirmed that the colonization rate of AMF was higher in Zhongcha108. This finding testified that AMF could be the major beneficial tea rhizosphere microbes that potentially function in enhanced disease resistance. Overall, our results confirmed that locations affected the microbial community greater than that of tea varieties, and fungi might be more sensitive to the change in microenvironments. Furthermore, we found several beneficial microorganisms, which are of great significance in improving the ecological environment of tea gardens and the disease resistance of tea plants. These beneficial microbial communities may also help to further reveal the mechanism of disease resistance in tea and potentially be useful for mitigating climate change-associated challenges to tea gardens in the future.

土壤微环境与植物品种可在很大程度上影响根际微生物群落的结构与功能。然而，二者对茶树根际微生物群落的具体影响尚不明确。有益微生物是微生物群落中的重要类群，它们通过在植物抗病、环境胁迫耐受中发挥关键作用而具备生态功能。龙井43（Longjing43）与中茶108（Zhongcha108）是我国广泛种植的两个茶树品种。尽管中茶108的抗病性优于龙井43，但有益茶树根际微生物在抗病性中的潜在作用仍未被充分阐明。本研究采用Illumina MiSeq测序技术（Illumina MiSeq sequencing），针对16S rRNA基因（16S rRNA gene）与ITS区域（ITS）进行测序，比较了这两个茶树品种的根际微生物群落结构与功能。研究样本采自中国东部杭州与嵊州两个点位的4个独立茶园，两个点位均分别种植了龙井43与中茶108，且各设单独茶园。经方差分析（ANOVA）与主成分分析（PCA）证实，土壤理化性质存在显著差异；同时通过多生物技术分析（主坐标分析PCoA、线性判别分析效应大小法LEfSe、共现网络分析）发现，不同点位与茶树品种的根际微生物群落存在显著分化（p < 0.01）。研究通过FAPROTAX数据库（FAPROTAX database）对细菌功能进行注释，发现杭州点位根际土壤中与土壤生态功能相关的亚硝化螺旋菌科（Nitrososphaeraceae）丰度更高。线性判别分析效应大小（LDA effect size）结果显示，丛枝菌根真菌（arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, AMF）在中茶108中的丰度显著高于龙井43。田间试验进一步证实，中茶108的AMF定殖率更高。该研究结果证实，AMF可作为茶树主要的有益根际微生物，潜在参与增强茶树抗病性的过程。综上，本研究结果表明，点位因素对微生物群落的影响程度大于茶树品种，且真菌对微环境变化的敏感性可能更高。此外，本研究筛选得到多种有益微生物，其对于改善茶园生态环境、提升茶树抗病性具有重要意义。这些有益微生物群落还有助于进一步揭示茶树抗病机制，并有望在未来应对气候变化给茶园带来的相关挑战中发挥作用。