Three Preceding Crops Increased the Yield of and Inhibited Clubroot Disease in Continuously Monocropped Chinese Cabbage by Regulating the Soil Properties and Rhizosphere Microbial Community

Abstract

Crop rotation can improve soil properties and is one of the important measures to prevent soil-borne diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different preceding crops on clubroot disease in Chinese cabbage and soil microorganisms, to provide a theoretical basis for the ecological control of clubroot scientifically. In this experiment, soybeans, potato onions, and wheat were used as the preceding crops and compared with the local preceding crop garlic. The growth of the Chinese cabbage, disease occurrence, soil chemical properties and changes in microbial community structure were determined by using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), soil microbial high-throughput sequencing and other methods. The results showed that the rotation of potato onion and wheat with Chinese cabbage could reduce the clubroot disease index of Chinese cabbage remarkably. Through Illumina Miseq sequencing, when three previous crops were harvested, the abundance and diversity of the bacteria increased obviously, while the fungi decreased. The relative abundance of the phylum Proteobacteria and Firmicutes was strikingly reduced, while that of Chloroflexi was significantly increased. These results show that three previous crops changed the structure of soil microorganisms, reduced the clubroot disease of Chinese cabbage, promoted growth, and suppressed disease. The ranked effect on promoting growth and inhibiting diseases was potato onion > wheat > soybean.