Colonization Ability of Bacillus subtilis NCD-2 in Different Crops and Its Effect on Rhizosphere Microorganisms

Abstract

Bacillus subtilis strain NCD-2 is a promising biocontrol agent for soil-borne plant diseases and shows potential for promoting the growth of some crops. The purposes of this study were to analyze the colonization ability of strain NCD-2 in different crops and reveal the plant growth promotion mechanism of strain NCD-2 by rhizosphere microbiome analysis. qRT-PCR was used to determine the populations of strain NCD-2, and microbial communities’ structures were analyzed through amplicon sequencing after application of strain NCD-2. Results demonstrated that strain NCD-2 had a good growth promotion effect on tomato, eggplant and pepper, and it was the most abundant in eggplant rhizosphere soil. There were significantly differences in the types of beneficial microorganisms recruited for different crops after application of strain NCD-2. PICRUSt analysis showed that the relative abundances of functional genes for amino acid transport and metabolism, coenzyme transport and metabolism, lipid transport and metabolism, inorganic ion transport and metabolism, and defense mechanisms were enriched in the rhizospheres of pepper and eggplant more than in the rhizospheres of cotton, tomato and maize after application of strain NCD-2. In summary, the colonization ability of strain NCD-2 for five plants was different. There were differences in microbial communities’ structure in rhizosphere of different plants after application of strain NCD-2. Based on the results obtained in this study, it was concluded that the growth promoting ability of strain NCD-2 were correlated with its colonization quantity and the microbial species it recruited.