Inoculation of soybean rhizosphere microorganisms could promote corn growth

Abstract

Rhizosphere microbes are essential for crop growth and development. Soybean rhizosphere microbes are believed to have nitrogen-fixing functions that promote plant growth. However, it is not known whether soybean rhizosphere microbes promote the growth of other crops via transplantation. In this study, we investigated the potential of soybean-derived rhizosphere microbes to promote corn growth, included a significant increase (5.3%) in corn plant height. The inoculation of soybean rhizosphere microbes did not significantly affect microbial diversity in the corn rhizosphere, but the relative abundance of plant-beneficial bacteria increased significantly by 23.12%, particularly the genera Nocardioides, Variovorax, Pseudoalteromonas, Bosea and Adhaeribacter. Furthermore, inoculation with soybean rhizosphere microbes promoted the expression of metabolic genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and membrane transport, which in turn accelerated nutrient cycling in the soil and promoted plant growth. Our study shows that soybean can enrich many beneficial plant bacteria in rhizosphere whose function is beyond nitrogen fixation, and these enriched beneficial bacteria can be applied to other crops, such as corn, by transferring rhizosphere soil, providing new insights into rhizosphere microbial inoculation techniques and contribute to our understanding of the ecological functions associated with rhizosphere microbes.