Abstract
The production of wheat is fundamentally interconnected with worldwide food security. The practice of deep tillage (DT) cultivation has shown advantages in terms of soil enhancement and the mitigation of diseases and weed abundance. Nevertheless, the specific mechanisms behind these advantages are unclear. Accordingly, we aimed to clarify the influence of DT on rhizosphere soil (RS) microbial communities and its possible contribution to the improvement of soil quality. Soil fertility was evaluated by analyzing several soil characteristics. High-throughput sequencing techniques were utilized to explore the structure and function of rhizosphere microbial communities. Despite lowered fertility levels in the 0-20 cm DT soil layer, significant variations were noted in the microbial composition of the DT wheat rhizosphere, with Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria being the most prominent. Furthermore, the abundance of Bradyrhizobacteria, a nitrogen-fixing bacteria within the Proteobacteria phylum, was significantly increased. A significant increase in glycoside hydrolases within the DT group was observed, in addition to higher abundances of amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism genes in the COG and KEGG databases. Moreover, DT can enhance soil quality and boost crop productivity by modulating soil microorganisms' carbon and nitrogen fixation capacities.