Abstract:[Background] The drought-resistant sand-fixing shrub Artemisia ordosica, which is widely distributed in the desert area in northern China, plays an important role in stabilizing the ecosystem in desert area. [Objective] Endophyte plays an essential part in plant life. It is of great significance for understanding the interaction among microbial communities and protecting host plants against biotic and abiotic stresses to clarify the structure variation of endophytic communities in young and mature tissues of plants during growth and development. [Methods] In this study, we measured the lignification indices of young and mature branches of A. ordosica from Labahu Forest Farm in Ningxia and performed high-throughput sequencing of the endophyte communities. [Results] Content of lignin and cellulose was significantly different between A. ordosica branches at different development stages. The diversity of endophytic bacteria and fungi in young branches was higher than that in mature branches, and more OTUs were found in the former than in the later. Mature branches accumulated lignin and cellulose, thus boasting stronger adaptability. With the development of branches, endophytic fungal community changed more significantly, as the unidentified phylum gradually took the position of Ascomycota as the dominant phylum. [Conclusion] Development stage of A. ordosica branches has profound impact on the assembly of plant microbiome. Endophytic bacteria and fungi play different ecological roles at different development stages of plants. We revealed the difference in the community structure of endophytic bacteria and fungi between young and mature branches of A. ordosica, hoping to provide a reference for ecological restoration in desert area.
