@Article{phyton.2025.063062,
AUTHOR = {Bingbing Zhang, Minghao Li, Xiaoli Huang, Siqi Zheng, Guorong Lai, Quan Yang, Xiaomin Tang},
TITLE = {Effects of Different Fertilization Treatments on the Growth, Quality, and Microbial Community Structure of <i>Grona styracifolia</i>},
JOURNAL = {Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany},
VOLUME = {94},
YEAR = {2025},
NUMBER = {3},
PAGES = {843--860},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/phyton/v94n3/60218},
ISSN = {1851-5657},
ABSTRACT = {Fertilization is essential for high yield and quality in Chinese herbs. <i>Grona styracifolia</i> (Osbeck) H. Ohashi, a distinctive medicinal plant in the Lingnan region, currently encounters cultivation issues stemming from the overuse of chemical fertilizers. Adopting organic and microbial fertilizers presents a sustainable solution for its cultivation management. This study compared a no-fertilization control group with eight treatment groups using various concentrations of compound, organic, compound microbial, and <i>Bacillus amyloliquefaciens</i> fertilizers to evaluate their effects on <i>G. styracifolia</i> and soil microbial communities. The results demonstrated that the different fertilization treatments significantly enhanced plant growth and quality of <i>G. styracifolia</i>, while also increasing the activity of soil enzymes such as urease, invertase, and cellulase, as well as the levels of effective soil nutrients. Comprehensive affiliation function analysis demonstrated that applying <i>Bacillus amyloliquefaciens</i> fertilizer (15 g/kg) exhibited optimal performance in enhancing the growth of <i>G. styracifolia</i> and improving soil fertility parameters. Microbial sequencing of the soil indicated that under the application of <i>Bacillus amyloliquefaciens</i> fertilizer (15 g/kg), the relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Ascomycota increased significantly by 27.42% and 74.91%, respectively (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The application of microbial-based fertilizers significantly enriched the abundance of <i>Mortierellomycota</i>. Furthermore, LEfSe analysis identified distinct microbial biomarkers associated with different fertilizers. Additionally, redundancy analysis identified Invertase and available potassium (AK) as the primary drivers of soil bacterial and fungal community structures, respectively. This study demonstrated that the application of <i>Bacillus amyloliquefaciens</i> fertilizer (15 g/kg) significantly enhanced soil fertility and restructured microbial communities. These improvements led to increased yield and quality of <i>G. styracifolia</i>, providing a scientific foundation for sustainable cultivation.},
DOI = {10.32604/phyton.2025.063062}
}