ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.

Sec. Plant Nutrition

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1613771

Metagenomic Insights into the Effects of Partial Substitution of Chemical Fertilizers with Organic Fertilizers on Early-Stage Licorice Quality

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Chinese Traditional Medicine Resource Center, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
  • 2China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Substituting chemical fertilizers with organic alternatives has gained increasing attention for its potential to enhance crop yield, quality, and soil health. In the early stages of licorice cultivation, the short-term effects of organic fertilization on microbial community dynamics, soil properties, and bioactive compound accumulation remain insufficiently understood. A metagenomic approach was applied to analyze microbial compositions in both bulk and rhizosphere soils under different fertilization treatments. Results showed that organic fertilization significantly increased licorice yield and the accumulation of bioactive compounds compared to chemical fertilization. Full organic substitution improved soil nutrient content, organic matter, and carbon levels while reducing enzyme Abbreviations G.

Keywords: licorice, Metagenomics, Rational fertilization, Microbiology, quality, Soil

Received: 17 Apr 2025; Accepted: 04 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Xiao, Zhang, Gao, Lai, Binbin, Wang, Zhao, Xiufu, Lyu, Kang and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Yan Zhang, Chinese Traditional Medicine Resource Center, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
Chuanzhi Kang, Chinese Traditional Medicine Resource Center, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
Lanping Guo, Chinese Traditional Medicine Resource Center, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

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