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<p>Cold desert ecosystems provide unique opportunities to study microbial diversity under extreme conditions of temperature, aridity, and nutrient scarcity. Apple orchards in the Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, represent fragile high-altitude agroecosystems where soil microbes play key roles in nutrient cycling and plant productivity. This study assessed the structure and functional diversity of bacterial communities in apple rhizosphere soils from six villages of Spiti Valley (Tabo, Lari, Hurling, Kurith, Needang, and Poh), Himachal Pradesh, India.&#xa0;Soil physicochemical properties (texture, pH, EC, organic carbon, N, P, K, and micronutrients) were analysed alongside bacterial diversity profiling using 16&#xa0;S rRNA V3–V4 amplicon sequencing and downstream bioinformatics pipelines (QIIME2, PICRUSt2).&#xa0;Soils ranged from sandy loam to loam, with pH values neutral to slightly alkaline and variable nutrient availability. Metagenomic analysis identified 43 phyla, 128 classes, 317 orders, 492 families, 833 genera, and 1,532 species. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, Bacteroidota, and Verrucomicrobiota dominated (80–85% of total abundance). Alpha diversity indices highlighted Lari as the most diverse site, while beta diversity analyses revealed distinct microbial assemblages across elevations. Functional prediction indicated enrichment of genes involved in nutrient metabolism (C, N, P cycling) and stress tolerance in the freezing desert.&#xa0;Local soil properties shape soil bacterial communities in the apple rhizosphere of Spiti. The high microbial diversity, along with functional redundancy, supports ecosystem resilience and long-term soil health. These findings provide valuable microbial indicators for promoting sustainable apple farming in high-altitude, cold regions.</p>

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Rhizosphere Bacterial Community Associated with Apple Orchards in the Cold Desert of Himachal Pradesh

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月12日

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  • Anannya B.,
  • Anjali Chauhan,
  • S. Vishnu Shankar,
  • Ananthakrishnan S.,
  • Naveen C. Sharma,
  • Rajesh Kaushal,
  • Santosh Ranjan Mohanty,
  • Tanzin Ladon

摘要

Cold desert ecosystems provide unique opportunities to study microbial diversity under extreme conditions of temperature, aridity, and nutrient scarcity. Apple orchards in the Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, represent fragile high-altitude agroecosystems where soil microbes play key roles in nutrient cycling and plant productivity. This study assessed the structure and functional diversity of bacterial communities in apple rhizosphere soils from six villages of Spiti Valley (Tabo, Lari, Hurling, Kurith, Needang, and Poh), Himachal Pradesh, India. Soil physicochemical properties (texture, pH, EC, organic carbon, N, P, K, and micronutrients) were analysed alongside bacterial diversity profiling using 16 S rRNA V3–V4 amplicon sequencing and downstream bioinformatics pipelines (QIIME2, PICRUSt2). Soils ranged from sandy loam to loam, with pH values neutral to slightly alkaline and variable nutrient availability. Metagenomic analysis identified 43 phyla, 128 classes, 317 orders, 492 families, 833 genera, and 1,532 species. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, Bacteroidota, and Verrucomicrobiota dominated (80–85% of total abundance). Alpha diversity indices highlighted Lari as the most diverse site, while beta diversity analyses revealed distinct microbial assemblages across elevations. Functional prediction indicated enrichment of genes involved in nutrient metabolism (C, N, P cycling) and stress tolerance in the freezing desert. Local soil properties shape soil bacterial communities in the apple rhizosphere of Spiti. The high microbial diversity, along with functional redundancy, supports ecosystem resilience and long-term soil health. These findings provide valuable microbial indicators for promoting sustainable apple farming in high-altitude, cold regions.