Relationship of Soil Microbiota to Seed Kernel Metabolism in Camellia oleifera Under Mulched

Abstract

An experiment was conducted from 2016 to 2017 to assess the effect of kernel metabolism in development stages after organic mulching compared to control. Organic mulching significantly increased crop yields (higher 128% in 2016, higher 60% in 2017), oil content (the highest oil content was 27.6% higher than that of the control), and improved soil properties (SOC, SAN, AP, and AK). In this study, soil pH, SOC, AN, AP, and AK in 0–30 cm soil depth were measured. Results showed that the effect of mulching on soil pH was not significant at the harvesting stage. The greatest metabolic differences occurred during the period of high oil conversion (S2–S4), primarily involving 11 relevant metabolic pathways. This further verified that Camellia oleifera oil yield was improved after mulching. A total of 1,106 OTUs were detected by using 16S rRNA, and Venn diagram showed that there were 106 unique OTUs in control and 103 OTUs in the treatment, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that soil pH and soil temperature were two indicators with the most correlations with soil microbiota. The yield was significantly positively correlated with soil microbial Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and soil nutrition indexes. Organic mulching improved the physicochemical properties of soils, caused differences in the relative abundance of dominant bacteria in soil bacteria, and improved the soil microbiological environment to promote plant growth, indicating that organic mulching is an effective measure to alleviate seasonal drought.