Field Inoculation of Pleurotus tuoliensis in Natural Habitat Promotes Microbial Communities That Enhance Its Growth

Pleurotus tuoliensis is a valuable edible mushroom native to Xinjiang in northwest China. It colonizes the roots and stems of Ferula plants. Field inoculation in its natural habitat has been shown to significantly enhance the colonization rate of P. tuoliensis hyphae in Ferula plants. However, the effects of field inoculation on P. tuoliensis hyphal colonization, soil properties, and microbial communities remain underexplored. In this study, we examined the characteristics of rhizosphere soil and microbial communities under four conditions: natural environments with and without hyphal colonization, and field inoculation with and without colonization. High-throughput sequencing results revealed that field inoculation markedly increased the relative abundance of Pleurotus species (57.98%) compared to natural colonization (14.11%). However, field inoculation also resulted in a reduction in microbial community diversity compared to hyphal colonization. Concurrently, the relative abundance of Pseudomonadota, Bacteroidota, and Bacillota significantly increased following field inoculation. LEfSe analysis suggested that the identified potential biomarkers were most likely associated with the Bacillus genus within Bacillota. Furthermore, mushroom growth-promoting bacteria were successfully isolated and identified as members of the Bacillus cereus group (L5) and Bacillus safensis (S16). This finding suggests that field inoculation with P. tuoliensis in its natural habitat promotes microbial communities that enhance its growth. This study offers new insights into conserving wild edible fungi and their interactions with soil microbiota.