Diversity and Driving Factor of Archaea in Rhizospheric Soil of Angelica Sinensis

Angelica sinensis （A. sinensis） is a major traditional Chinese medicinal herb, particularly renowned in Gansu Province, the mechanism underlying the influence of rhizosphere microbiota on the growth and development of A. sinensis remains to be thoroughly elucidated. This study investigated the archaeal community in the rhizosphere soil of A. sinensis during three critical growth stages-leaf cluster stage, root expansion stage, and medicinal formation stage-using Illumina Miseq high throughput sequencing technology. By integrating soil physicochemical properties, nutrient, and enzyme activity measurements, the interactions between soil factors and archaeal communities were explored. The results revealed: the α-diversity of rhizosphere archaeal communities exhibited a “single-peak trend” （increasing from leaf cluster stage to the root expansion stage, then significantly decreasing at the medicinal formation stage）, while β-diversity showed significantly divergence across growth stages （p<0.001）; the phylum Crenarchaeota （relative abundance>90%） dominated the archaeal community, with the genus norank_f__Nitrososphacraccac as the core functional group. Both exhibited significant responses to growth stage transitions （p<0.05）; Redundancy analysis （RDA） identified soil electrical conductivity, available phosphorus, sucrose enzyme activity, acid phosphatase, and alkaline phosphatase as key drivers of archaeal community dynamics. Notably, soil enzyme activity explained 60.68% of the variation in archaeal community structure. This study first reveals the dynamic succession patterns of archaeal communities in the rhizosphere soil of A. sinensis and their coupling mechanisms with soil microenvironments. These findings provide theoretical insights for leveraging archaeal microbiota to optimize A. sinensis quality and cultivation strategies.