Rhizospheric and endospheric diazotrophs mediated soil fertility intensification in sugarcane-legume intercropping systems

Sugarcane-legume intercrops have gained attention because of their ability to improve crop productivity in an ecofriendly manner. We investigated the roles of rhizospheric and endospheric diazotrophs in soil nutrient transformation. We conducted two field experiments with three treatments: sugarcane monoculture, sugarcane + peanut intercrop, and sugarcane + soybean intercrop. Soil and plant samples were collected and the nutrient content, enzymatic activity, and diazotroph population were assessed. The nitrogenase (nifH) gene and 16S rRNA gene were used for molecular characterization. Correlation analysis was performed to discover the relations among the soil variables, plant variables, and microbial communities. The multiple variance analysis results indicated that the intercropping systems had a significant (p