Characteristics of Rhizosphere Soil Fungal Communities of Cypripedium macranthos Sw. at Different Latitudes in Heilongjiang Province

In recent years, due to over-excavation and destruction of the living environment, Cypripedium macranthos Sw. (commonly known as ‘big pocket flower’) has been in an endangered state. It is crucial to investigate the rhizosphere soil fungal community characteristics of C. macranthos to restore its population. In this study, we collected rhizosphere soils from C. macranthos populations along the latitudinal gradient of 44°–49° in Heilongjiang Province, China, and analysed the diversity and composition of C. macranthos rhizosphere soil fungal communities using high-throughput sequencing technology to investigate the diversity and community composition of C. macranthos. The results showed that 4228 OTUs were obtained by clustering based on a 97% similarity level. Alpha diversity results showed that Shannon diversity indices and Simpson diversity indices decreased with an increasing latitudinal gradient. The principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) results showed that the rhizosphere soil of C. macranthos at different locations differed in composition. It is important to reveal the characteristics of rhizosphere soil fungal communities at the molecular level, across varying latitudes, to conserve C. macranthos.