ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Symbiotic Interactions
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1650792
This article is part of the Research TopicEngineering Plant-Microbiomes to Improve the Health of Economic CropsView all 7 articles
Comparative Analysis of Rhizosphere Microbial Communities and Secondary Metabolites in Cultivated Rheum officinale from Different Regions of China
Provisionally accepted
- Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Rheum officinale Baill., a medicinal herb rich in anthraquinones and tannins, exhibits region-specific variation in bioactive compound accumulation. Given the well-documented pharmacological properties of R. officinale Baill. including its laxative, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and regulating intestinal function, this study integrated Illumina sequencing of rhizosphere microbiomes, HPLC quantification of 25 10 active components (e.g., rhein, physcion), and soil analysis across three cultivation 26 regions Shaanxi (ZB), Hubei (HB), Chongqing (CQ). Results demonstrated 27 significant regional disparities: ZB showed highest rhein and catechin levels, while 28 CQ accumulated more physcion. Microbial diversity followed the order ZB>HB>CQ, 29 with Proteobacteria and Ascomycota dominating bacterial and fungal communities, 30 respectively. Soil pH, moisture (SWC), and Zn/Cu content strongly correlated with 31 microbial structure. Notably, Rokubacteriales was significantly positively associated 32 with anthraquinones accumulation. These findings suggest that soil properties 33 modulate microbial communities, which in turn regulate secondary metabolite 34 biosynthesis through nutrient cycling (e.g., nitrogen/phosphorus metabolism). This 35 study elucidates the tripartite interaction of soil-microbe-metabolite networks in R. 36 officinale Baill., providing insights for geoherbalism optimization. Future research 37 will focus on optimizing R. officinale Baill. cultivation through soil condition 38 management to enhance both quality and yield.
Keywords: 16S rRNA sequencing, fungal ITS high-throughput sequencing, Rheum officinale Baill., secondary metabolites, soil properties
Received: 20 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Yan, Liang, Hu, Gao, Zhang, Yan, Zhang and Li. 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:
Gang Zhang, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China
Yimin Li, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.