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The Diversity and Community Composition of Three Plants’ Rhizosphere Fungi in Kaolin Mining Areas
Summary
Researchers studied how kaolin mining activity affects soil fungi around plant roots and found significant disruption to fungal community diversity and composition. While not directly about microplastics, mining operations generate microplastic contamination from plastic equipment and materials. The study illustrates how industrial activities can damage the soil microorganisms that are essential for plant health and, by extension, the food system.
Mining activities in the kaolin mining area have led to the disruption of the ecological health of the mining area and nearby soils, but the effects on the fungal communities in the rhizosphere soils of the plants are not clear. Three common plants (<i>Conyza bonariensis</i>, <i>Artemisia annua</i>, and <i>Dodonaea viscosa</i>) in kaolin mining areas were selected and analyzed their rhizosphere soil fungal communities using ITS sequencing. The alpha diversity indices (Chao1, Shannon, Simpson, observed-species, pielou-e) of the fungal communities decreased to different extents in different plants compared to the non-kauri mining area. The β-diversity (PCoA, NMDS) analysis showed that the rhizosphere soil fungal communities of the three plants in the kaolin mine area were significantly differentiated from those of the control plants grown in the non-kaolin mine area, and the extent of this differentiation varied among the plants. The analysis of fungal community composition showed that the dominant fungi in the rhizosphere fungi of <i>C. bonariensis</i> and <i>A. annua</i> changed, with an increase in the proportion of <i>Mycosphaerella</i> (genus) by about 20% in <i>C. bonariensis</i> and <i>A. annua</i>. An increase in the proportion of <i>Didymella</i> (genus) by 40% in <i>D. viscosa</i> was observed. At the same time, three plant rhizosphere soils were affected by kaolin mining activities with the appearance of new fungal genera <i>Ochrocladosporium</i> and <i>Plenodomus</i>. Predictive functional potential analysis of the samples revealed that a significant decrease in the potential of functions such as biosynthesis and glycolysis occurred in the rhizosphere fungal communities of kaolin-mined plants compared to non-kaolin-mined areas. The results show that heavy metals and plant species are the key factors influencing these changes, which suggests that selecting plants that can bring more abundant fungi can adapt to heavy metal contamination to restore soil ecology in the kaolin mining area.
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