HUBEI AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES ›› 2025, Vol. 64 ›› Issue (5): 10-16.doi: 10.14088/j.cnki.issn0439-8114.2025.05.003

• Resource & Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of drought on cadmium content in rice and soil and cadmium resistance-associated microorganisms

ZHANG Hui, WANG Yi, HANG Xiao-ning, ZHANG Jian, LIAO Dun-xiu, TANG Rong-li   

  1. Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, China
  • Received:2024-07-04 Online:2025-05-25 Published:2025-06-11

Abstract: Samples were collected from typical drought-affected fields in mid-altitude regions, including rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants and soils under mild, moderate and severe drought stress. The content of cadmium in soil and different parts of rice was determined, and the community diversity and composition of soil cadmium-resistant microorganisms were analyzed by Illumina MiSeq technique. The results showed that the cadmium content in soil was in the increasing order of severe drought, moderate drought and light drought, and the cadmium content in each part of rice showed the opposite trend, but the differences were all not significant. The results of high-throughput sequencing showed that the number of cadmium resistance-associated microorganisms was the highest under moderate drought, followed by mild drought, and the least under severe drought. NMDS analysis showed that drought exposure significantly affected the structure of cadmium resistance-associated microbial communities. The analysis of microbial communities showed that Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes and Actinobacteria were the main microbial phyla in the three groups, but the relative abundance of each phyla was different. Under severe drought, the relative abundance of Planctomycetes was significantly increased, while the relative abundance of Proteobacteria decreased. At the genus level, Gemmata was the most dominant microorganism across all three drought-treated groups. Notably, its abundance in severe drought soil was significantly higher than that in mild and moderate drought soils. Under moderate drought, the relative abundance of Azospirillum increased significantly, whereas under mild drought, the relative abundances of Haliangium, Pseudomonas, and Alloactinosynnema showed significant increases. Severe drought increased the Cd content of brown rice and affected the structure and composition of cadmium resistance-associated microbial communities. Therefore, proper water management was expected to reduce the migration of heavy metals in soil and realize the safe use of cultivated land.

Key words: cadmium, drought, rice (Oryza sativa L.), soil, Cadmium-resistant microorganism, microbial diversity

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