Different resilience patterns of microbial community composition and network complexity within arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal hyphosphere

Abstract

Most terrestrial plants acquire substantial amounts of mineral nitrogen (N) via associated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). These fungi, in turn, rely on hyphosphere microorganisms to release N in the forms of ammonia (NH₄⁺) and nitrate (NO₃^–) via organic matter decomposition. The stability of hyphospheric microbiomes is crucial for sustaining N supply, yet how these communities respond to different inorganic-N forms remains poorly understood. To address this, we conducted a greenhouse pot experiment using a model plant-mycorrhizal system consisting of Asiatic plantain and Funneliformis geosporum. We find that the addition of inorganic-N at a moderate agronomic dose (60 mg N kg⁻¹), regardless of its form, led to a shift in microbial community composition and a critical decrease in network complexity of the hyphospheric microbiomes. Notably, microbial community composition within the AMF hyphosphere exhibited high resilience, with its recovery rate reaching up to 92% (indexed by Bray−Curtis and Jaccard similarities) following AMF-mediated N depletion. By contrast, the interaction network of hyphospheric microbiomes displayed relatively lower resilience (64%), with the number of nodes and links progressively declining after N addition, largely due to disrupted associations between dominantand rare taxa. Whether this network state represents a persistent impairment or atransient stage requires further investigations on the basis of longer-term experiments. Our findings reveal an asynchronous resilience pattern of microbial community composition and network complexity within the AMF hyphosphere, offering an insight into the stability of soil microbiomes under fertilization in agricultural ecosystems.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) / nitrogen form / community stability / network complexity / soil microbiomes

Highlight

	● Microbial composition recovers fully post AMF-mediated N depletion.
	● Microbial interaction networks show only 64% resilience despite restored N levels.
	● Dominant taxa severing links to rare taxa drives persistent network impairment.

References

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