The fungal community in non-rhizosphere soil of Panax ginseng are driven by different cultivation modes and increased cultivation periods.

Continuous cropping obstacles severely hindered the sustained development of the ginseng industry. Among the obstacles, an imbalance of soil microbiome community was considered one of the major culprits. The fungal community is an essential part of the soil microbiome community. Extensive characterization of the fungal community composition and variation during ginseng cultivation will help us understand the mechanism underlying continuous cropping obstacles. By using a high-throughput amplicon sequencing method, the non-rhizospheric fungal community of farmland cultivated ginseng of 2 years old (C2) and 5 years old (C5), understory wild ginseng of 15 years old (W15) and 35 years old (W35), fallow fields which have been abandoned for 10 (F10) years were characterized. Farmland cultivated ginseng and understory wild ginseng harbored distinct non-rhizospheric fungal communities, and extension of cultivation periods enlarged the fungal community difference between two cultivation modes. Extended cultivation periods significantly decreased the OTU richness and PD whole tree indices, and OTU number and cultivation periods were negatively correlated. Extension of cultivation periods led to an increased abundance of pathotrophs. Still, the increased abundance of pathotrophs may not be the leading cause of severe continuous cropping obstacles in farmland cultivated ginseng. Compared with understory wild ginseng, farmland cultivated ginseng had a lower abundance of symbiotrophs and a higher abundance of saprotrophs. This changed symbiotrophs/saprotrophs ratio may have some correlation with the severe continuous cropping obstacles that occurred in farmland cultivated ginseng. Fallowing on the fungal community of the non-rhizosphere soil was generally opposite of that of extension of ginseng cultivation periods. The impacts of farmland cultivation on the fungal community of the non-rhizosphere soil can last for decades, even if the following is practiced.