Stage-specific rhizosphere microbial succession is associated with nutrient cycling in the desert plant Leymus racemosus (Lam.) tzvelev

Abstract Background and aims Plants regulate nutrient uptake and growth by recruiting rhizosphere microorganisms via root exudates. However, a systematic understanding of how the rhizosphere core and functional microbiota jointly regulate the dynamics of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium across the entire plant life cycle in desert ecosystems remains limited. In this study, we asked: how does the succession of rhizosphere bacterial communities align with stage-specific nutrient demands