Differential microbial communities and metabolite profiles in the rhizosphere and bulk soils of rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) infected with red root rot disease

Red root rot disease, caused by the soil-borne pathogen Ganoderma pseudoferreum, is a severe threat to the natural rubber industry. However, the mechanisms by which pathogen invasion affects the composition, function, and metabolic products of the soil microbial community in rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis) remain unclear. Here, we compared different soil management patterns, including rhizosphere healthy soil (RHS), rhizosphere diseased soil (RDS), bulk healthy soil (BHS), and bulk diseased soil (BDS), to investigate the diversity, functions, and metabolic characteristics of soil microbial communities using metagenomic and metabolomic techniques. In diseased rhizosphere soils, bacterial abundance increased significantly while diversity decreased; fungal diversity showed a declining trend. In diseased bulk soils, both bacterial richness and fungal diversity increased markedly. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed enhanced microbial interaction density (particularly among fungi) in the rhizosphere diseased