Abstract
Abstract
Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort.(LCX, Apiaceae) is a traditional herbal medicine for ischemic cardiovascular and cerebral diseases. Continuous monocropping disrupts soil microecology and nutrient conditions, causing yield loss and quality decline of LCX. In this experiment, rhizosphere inoculation with Bacillus licheniformis (B. licheniformis) (~5×10⁸ CFU/plant) markedly improved LCX growth, rhizome yield, and increased ferulic acid and ligustilide concentrations. B. licheniformis raised soil organic matter (SOM) and available potassium (AK) while lowering nitrate nitrogen (NO₃⁻-N). Meanwhile, B. licheniformis enriched Candidatus Rokubacteria, Myxococcota, Burkholderiaceae, and Chloroflexota, and suppressed Flavisolibacter and Rhizobiales bacterium 62-47. Further investigations demonstrated that inoculation of B. licheniformis in rhizosphere soil up-regulated 4CL, COMT, CCR, OMT2, 2OGD, and modulated the metabolites involved in the biosynthetic pathways of ferulic acid and ligustilide. Collectively, B. licheniformis directly improves soil fertility and releases growth-promoting compounds; it also reshapes rhizosphere microbiota to indirectly optimize nutritional conditions and suppress pathogens, jointly boosting LCX productivity and medicinal quality. This study highlights the further application of B. licheniformis in the cultivation and quality improvement of LCX.