ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Biotechnology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1677763
This article is part of the Research TopicBeneficial Microbes as Triggers of Plant Signaling: Unlocking the Molecular Dialogues for Sustainable Crop ImprovementView all articles
Co-inoculation of Bacillus subtilis and Bradyrhizobium liaoningense increased soybean yield and improved soil bacterial community composition in coastal saline-alkali land
Provisionally accepted
- 河北农业大学, 保定市, China
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Saline-alkali land is an important reserve cultivated land resource, and increasing soybean yield in it is significant for food security. As soybean is sensitive to saline-alkali stress, planting it in such soil often causes problems like blocked root development and yield decline. In this study, field experiments were carried out in coastal saline-alkali land in Huanghua City, Hebei Province. Jidou 12 with strong saline-alkali tolerance was selected, and four treatments (CK :conventional fertilization;T1 : conventional fertilization + 75L/hm2 Bacillus subtilis 8-32 agent; T2 :conventional fertilization + 75L/hm2 Bradyrhizobium liaoningense CCBAU05525;T3 :conventional fertilization + 75L/hm2 Bacillus subtilis 8-32 agent and 75L/hm2 Bradyrhizobium liaoningense CCBAU05525). Through data analysis, the effects of co-inoculation of Bacillus subtilis and Rhizobium on soybean yield, soil properties, enzyme activity and bacterial community composition were studied. The results showed that T3 significantly increased soybean yield to 3182.67 kg/hm2, with yield, grains per pod and 100-grain weight increasing by 18.03%, 18.6% and 2.7% respectively compared with CK. The pH, electrical conductivity and total water-soluble salt content of rhizosphere soil decreased by 2.8%, 11.0% and 5.4%, while water and organic matter content increased by 5.6% and 11.6%. The activities of alkaline phosphatase, sucrase, urease and catalase increased by 14.9%, 22.4%, 15.1% and 5.2%. Co-inoculation increased the relative abundance of Sphingomonas. There was no significant difference in the Ace and Chao indices, indicating no significant difference in OTU number. The Shannon index of T1 was lower, meaning lower bacterial community species diversity. Co-inoculation improved plant stress resistance by enhancing the rhizosphere soil environment, regulating the microbial community structure and soil salinity, promoting soybean yield formation. It provides a theoretical basis for scientific fertilization and soil improvement in saline-alkali soybean planting.
Keywords: bacterial community, Coastal saline-alkali land, enzyme activity, microbial inoculum co-inoculation, salt-tolerant soybean
Received: 01 Aug 2025; Accepted: 28 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 He, Gao, Wang, Chen, Gao and Liu. 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:
Huiyan Gao, gaohuiyan1977@126.com
Hongquan Liu, lhq@hebau.edu.cn
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