Effect of root exudates on beneficial microorganisms—evidence from a continuous soybean monoculture

Soybean (Glycine max) agriculture is characterized by a high proportion of mono-cropping which results in reduced crop production in the Northeast China. Among all biotic and abiotic factors, changes in soil microbial communities induced by root activities, especially root exudates, might play an important role in these effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate response of microbial biomass and two major beneficial microbial functional groups, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), to root exudates in an experimental field under continuous soybean monoculture for 13 years. The results showed that microbial biomass carbon changed significantly with years of mono-cropping and correlated with concentrations of genistein (r = 0.4399, P < 0.001) and daidzein (r = 0.4082, P < 0.05) in the rhizosphere. However, root exudates had little effect on the nitrifier community, but reduced nitrification in the rhizosphere. In contrast, total AMF hyphal length was significantly stimulated by genistein (r = 0.5252, P < 0.01). There was a trend that AMF spore density increased in the rhizosphere with increasing years of mono-cropping, while AMF infection was constant over time, which might be attributed to competition between AMF and soil-borne fungal pathogens, as the results of stimulatory effect of flavonoids on fungal community, especially fungal pathogens. Our results suggested that the yield reduction in the beginning of continuous soybean monoculture could be partially attributed to nitrogen availability and yield stabilization after few years to stimulatory effects on AMF. These results imply that some of plant root exudates play a crucial role in changing the soil microbial community, and that underground ecosystem functioning is also affected by interactions among microbial functional groups.