The influence of rhizosphere microbial diversity on the accumulation of active compounds in farmed <i>Scutellaria baicalensis</i>

Rhizosphere microorganisms are important factors affecting herb quality and secondary metabolite accumulation. In this study, we investigated the diversity of rhizosphere microbial communities (bacteria and fungi) and their correlations with soil physicochemical properties and active compounds of <i>Scutellaria baicalensis</i> (baicalin, oroxindin, baicalein, wogonin, and oroxylin A) from cultivated <i>Scutellaria baicalensis</i> with three different origins <i>via</i> high-throughput sequencing and correlation analysis to further clarify the role of soil factors in the accumulation of the active compounds of <i>Scutellaria baicalensis</i>. The results are summarized as follows. A total of 28 dominant bacterial genera, such as <i>Arthrobacter</i>, <i>Rubrobacter, Microvirga</i>, and <i>Sphingomonas</i>, and 42 dominant fungal genera, such as <i>Alternaria, Spegazzinia</i>, and <i>Minimedusa</i>, were detected. The soil microbial communities associated with cultivated <i>Scutellaria baicalensis</i> were very diverse, but there were some differences in the relative abundances of microbial taxa. Correlation analysis revealed that the bacterial genera <i>Rubrobacter, Ellin6055, Gaiella, norank__f__norank__o___norank__c__bacteriap25, unclassified__f__Micromonosporaceae, norank__f__ Gemmatimonadaceae, Arthrobacter</i>, and <i>Sphingomonas</i> and the fungal genera <i>Tausonia, Minimedusa, Cercospora, Botrytis, Alternaria, Boeremia, Titaea, Solicoccozyma</i>, and <i>Mortierella</i> were positively or negatively correlated with each active component of <i>Scutellaria baicalensis</i> and were important genera affecting the accumulation of the active compounds of <i>Scutellaria baicalensis</i> and correlated with soil physiochemistry to different degrees. These results suggest that rhizosphere microorganisms may play a role in the accumulation of active compounds in medicinal plants and provide a scientific basis for guiding the cultivation of <i>Scutellaria baicalensis</i>, developing biofertilizers, and improving the quality of <i>Scutellaria baicalensis</i> medicinal materials.