Zhao Bing-Nan, Wang Xiao-Gai, Zhang Rui, He Xue-Ge, Si Chao
School of Life Science and Engineering, Handan University, Handan, China.
College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, China.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 16;20(6):e0325605. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0325605. eCollection 2025.
Many medicinal plants exhibit clonality, but the impact of clonal integration and its interaction with exogenous microbial agents on these plants remains unknown. In order to investigate this, we conducted a greenhouse experiment using Glechoma longituba, a common clonal medicinal herb. Pairs of connected ramets were grown in the two adjacent pots, with one pot containing basal (relatively older) ramets treated with or without Bacillus subtilis agent and the other pot containing apical (relatively younger) ramets without B. subtilis agent treatment, the connection between basal and apical ramets were either left intact or severed. Clonal integration reduced the growth of basal ramets, but increased the apical ramet growth. B. subtilis agent primarily affected the root-shoot ratio of both basal and apical ramets as well as the whole fragments. Furthermore, it exhibited a significant interaction with clonal integration in affecting the root-shoot ratio of basal ramets and whole plant fragments. Addition of B. subtilis reduced the content of total flavonoids and chlorogenic acid in basal portions and chlorogenic acid at the whole fragment level. Clonal integration and B. subtilis agent significantly changed the composition of soil fungal communities of basal portions and bacterial communities of apical portions. The fungal composition of basal portions responded reciprocally to clonal integration and B. subtilis, with a significant increase in the relative abundance of Basidiomycota and a decrease in Ascomycota under clonal integration, whereas the effect of B. subtilis was opposite. B. subtilis significantly increased fungal diversity in basal portions while decreasing bacterial diversity in apical portions under clonal integration. However, neither clonal integration nor B. subtilis has showed a positive effect on the overall growth and quality of G. longituba. These findings provide valuable insights into its role in scientific cultivation and management of the clonal medicinal plants in the practical production.
许多药用植物表现出克隆性，但克隆整合及其与外源微生物因子的相互作用对这些植物的影响尚不清楚。为了对此进行研究，我们使用连钱草（一种常见的克隆药用草本植物）进行了一项温室实验。将相连的分株对种植在两个相邻的花盆中，一个花盆中装有基部（相对较老）分株，分别用或不用枯草芽孢杆菌处理，另一个花盆中装有顶端（相对较年轻）分株，未用枯草芽孢杆菌处理，基部和顶端分株之间的连接要么保持完整，要么切断。克隆整合降低了基部分株的生长，但增加了顶端分株的生长。枯草芽孢杆菌主要影响基部和顶端分株以及整个片段的根冠比。此外，在影响基部分株和整个植株片段的根冠比方面，它与克隆整合表现出显著的相互作用。添加枯草芽孢杆菌降低了基部部分总黄酮和绿原酸的含量以及整个片段水平上绿原酸的含量。克隆整合和枯草芽孢杆菌显著改变了基部部分土壤真菌群落的组成以及顶端部分细菌群落的组成。基部部分的真菌组成对克隆整合和枯草芽孢杆菌有相反的反应，在克隆整合下担子菌门的相对丰度显著增加，子囊菌门减少，而枯草芽孢杆菌的作用则相反。在克隆整合下，枯草芽孢杆菌显著增加了基部部分的真菌多样性，同时降低了顶端部分的细菌多样性。然而，克隆整合和枯草芽孢杆菌对连钱草的整体生长和品质均未表现出积极影响。这些发现为其在实际生产中对克隆药用植物的科学栽培和管理中的作用提供了有价值的见解。
