Soil bacterial and protist communities from loquat orchards drive nutrient cycling and fruit yield

Highlights

● Loquat orchard location was the main driver of microbial communities and loquat fruit quality.

● The average fruit weight was correlated with the ɑ- and β-diversity of bacteria and protists.

● Soil bacterial and protistan communities drove the multiple nutrient cycling.

Abstract

The role of the soil microbiome in fruit quality within loquat orchards remains largely unknown. In this study, we collected soil samples from various loquat orchards in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China and investigated bacterial, fungal, and protist communities. The results showed that soil physicochemical conditions, the microbial community, and loquat fruit quality were significantly related to orchard location but unrelated to cultivation time and fertilization. The heterogeneity of the bacterial community was driven by soil pH, available phosphorus, and available potassium (AK). The fungal community was driven by soil electrical conductivity and AK. The protist community was driven by soil dissolved organic nitrogen and AK. The average fruit weight was significantly correlated with the ɑ- and β-diversity of bacteria and protists as well as the soil multiple nutrient cycling index. Several microbial phyla were related to average fruit weight, while other fruit quality indicators could not be explained by the soil microbiome. Our results reveal that bacterial and protist communities in loquat orchards drive the cycling of multiple nutrients that are related to fruit weight. These insights shed light on the relationship among the soil microbiome, nutrient cycling, and fruit quality, offering valuable scientific guidance for orchard management practices.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

bacteria / fungi / protists / multiple nutrient cycling / loquat / fruit quality

References

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ningbo Science and Technology Bureau (Grant No. 2021S013) and Agricultural Science and Technology Project of the Xiangshan Science and Technology Bureau (Grant No. 2022C1018).

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts to declare.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s42832-024-0232-8 and is accessible for authorized users.

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