Plant species identity influences soil microbial communities directly by host specificity and root exudates, and indirectly by changing soil properties. As a native pioneer species common in early successional communities, Masson pine (Pinus massoniana) forests are widely distributed in subtropical China, and play a key role in improving ecosystem productivity. However, how pine forest composition, especially the dominance of plant functional groups, affects soil microbial diversity remains unclear. Here, we investigated linkages among woody plant composition, soil physicochemical properties, and microbial diversity in forests along a dominance gradient of Masson pine. Soil bacterial and fungal communities were mainly explained by woody plant community composition rather than by woody species alpha diversity, with the dominance of tree (without including shrub) species and ectomycorrhizal woody plant species accounting for more of the variation among microbial communities than pine dominance alone. Structural equation modeling revealed that bacterial diversity was associated with woody plant compositional variation via altered soil physicochemical properties, whereas fungal diversity was directly driven by woody plant composition. Bacterial functional groups involved in carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism were negatively correlated with the availability of soil nitrogen and phosphorus, whereas saprotrophic and pathogenic fungal groups showed negative correlations with the dominance of tree species. These findings indicate strong linkages between woody plant composition than soil microbial diversity; meanwhile, the high proportion of unexplained variability indicates great necessity of further definitive demonstration for better understanding of forest–microbe interactions and associated ecosystem processes.

Pine wilt disease (PWD) caused by the pine wood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) is a serious threat to coniferous forests worldwide. However, little is known about how soil microbial diversity responds to PWD and associated management practices. We investigated the community composition and diversity of bacteria and fungi in bulk and rhizosphere soil of Masson pine (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) forests following 0, 1, and 5 year PWD, with the dead pine in a certain plot being either managed (logged and removed from the plot) or unmanaged (maintained as standing dead wood). Both bacterial and fungal alpha diversity decrease after 5 year PWD and logging, with response degree being different between site locations. Alpha diversity of rhizosphere fungi, rather than bacteria, significantly decreases with the disease and logging. We observe an increase in the relative amount of bacterial functional groups involved in carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism after PWD infection and logging practice. With the disease infection, the relative abundance of ectomycorrhizal fungi decreases, while the relative abundance of saprotrophic fungi increases. Compared with logging treatment, unmanaged practice had a weaker effect on soil microbial communities. Our findings provide new insights into the short-term responses of soil microbial diversity to management practices after PWD infection.

Anthropogenic disturbances significantly impact plant biodiversity in subtropical forests. While prior research has primarily concentrated on taxonomic diversity, other dimensions of biodiversity, such as phylogenetic and functional diversities, remain insufficiently explored. This study simultaneously investigated these three facets of plant diversity in subtropical forests with two distinct disturbance histories in eastern China, aiming to elucidate the effects of intermediate anthropogenic disturbances on biodiversity. Disturbed deciduous broadleaf forests exhibited markedly lower Pielou evenness index values compared to their conserved counterparts (p < 0.05). Disturbed evergreen broadleaf forests demonstrated significantly higher species richness, Shannon–Wiener index scores, and phylogenetic diversity relative to those found in conserved forests (p < 0.05). Furthermore, both disturbed deciduous broadleaf and mixed evergreen–deciduous broadleaf forests displayed significantly reduced functional richness and quadratic entropy coefficient values when compared with their conserved equivalents (p < 0.05). Forest type exerted a significant influence on all three dimensions of biodiversity (p < 0.05). In conclusion, intermediate anthropogenic disturbances have the potential to enhance both plant taxonomic and phylogenetic diversities while concurrently diminishing functional diversity within the subtropical forests of eastern China. The mechanisms driving responses in plant diversity to intermediate anthropogenic disturbances vary according to forest types.

Background: Tissue culture is one of the most important methods for propagating orchids. Notably, many orchid seedlings exhibit autonomous flowering during the cultivation process. To explore the underlying mechanism, Anoectochilus roxburghii (Wall.) Lindl., an orchid that spontaneously forms in vitro flowers, was analyzed in this study. Methods: Bud samples at the early, middle, and fully open stages were collected for transcriptome sequencing, followed by differential expression, trend, enrichment and protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analyses. Results: Differential gene expression analysis identified 2364, 4137, and 6522 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the early vs. middle, middle vs. open, and early vs. open comparisons, respectively. These DEGs were significantly enriched in various metabolic and biosynthetic pathways, particularly in ko01100 (metabolic pathways). PPI network analysis further identified hub genes, including MCM3, MCM4, and MCM7, which are associated with DNA replication, and CURL3, which is linked to plant hormone signal transduction pathways. Conclusion: Our findings provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms driving in vitro flowering in A. roxburghii, highlighting the importance of metabolic and biosynthetic process signaling in this unique developmental transition. These results provide valuable resources for future studies on orchid propagation and floral development.

The intestinal microbiota regulates host metabolic homeostasis through production of bioactive microbial metabolites. These microorganisms facilitate digestion, enhance immune function, maintain osmoregulation, and support physiological balance via these bioactive compounds, thereby enhancing environmental adaptation. Our study investigated intestinal microbiota–liver metabolic interactions in Leptobrachium liui using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and non-targeted liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry metabolomics. Key findings include (1) comparable alpha diversity but distinct microbial community structures between the small intestine (SI) and large intestine (LI), with the SI dominated by Enterobacteriaceae (72.14%) and the LI by Chitinophagaceae (55.16%); (2) segment-specific microbe–metabolite correlations, with predominantly positive correlations in the SI and complex patterns in the LI involving fatty acids, amino acids, and energy metabolites; and (3) significant correlations between specific bacterial families (Aeromonadaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Chitinophagaceae) and hepatic metabolites related to fatty acid metabolism, amino acid synthesis, and energy pathways, indicating potential gut–liver axis associations. These findings provide insights into amphibian intestinal microbiota–hepatic metabolite associations and may inform future studies of host–microbe interactions.

Although plant–mycorrhizal fungi associations play critical roles in maintaining species diversity within forest communities, the influence of tree ontogeny in mediating these effects on species diversity remains poorly understood. In this study, we integrated tree census data with information on the mycorrhizal types and sprouting ability of multi-stemmed species from a subtropical forest to assess how mycorrhiza-mediated neighborhood interactions affecting survival vary across ontogenetic stages (sapling, juvenile and adult stages) and how these effects correlate with sprouting ability. Our results revealed pervasive ontogenetic shifts in mycorrhiza-mediated neighborhood effects on tree survival for multi-stemmed species. AM heterospecific neighbors consistently exerted positive effects on tree survival across all life stages. In contrast, ErM heterospecific neighbors significantly influenced survival only at the sapling stage, whereas EcM heterospecific neighbors had significant effects during the juvenile and adult stages. When focal individuals were classified by mycorrhizal type, AM focal plants were significantly influenced by three types of mycorrhizal heterospecific neighbors, with the effect of AM heterospecific neighbors at the sapling stage being significantly greater than those of EcM or ErM heterospecific neighbors. Notably, AM heterospecific neighbors were critical predictors of survival for EcM focal plants during both the juvenile and adult stages, while AM and EcM heterospecific neighbors jointly the enhanced survival of ErM focal plants during the adult stage. Moreover, the effects of both AM and EcM heterospecific neighbors increased significantly with the sprouting ability of multi-stemmed species, particularly at the sapling stage. Our study highlights the importance of incorporating tree ontogeny and mycorrhizal symbiosis types into the assessment of factors contributing to species coexistence among long-lived organisms.