Comparison of bacterial communities in soil between nematode-infected and nematode-uninfected Pinus massoniana pinewood forest

•B. xylophilus-infected P. massoniana forests altered soil physicochemical properties.•B. xylophilus infection resulted in changes in bacterial composition and diversity in forest soils.

Few studies have investigated the soil properties and bacterial communities in Bursaphelenchus xylophilus-infected Pinus massoniana (Chinese red pine) forests. Herein, soil samples were collected from B. xylophilus-uninfected (control) and B. xylophilus-infected Chinese red pine forests in Small Huangshan, Anhui Province, China to investigate the effects of B. xylophilus on soil bacterial composition and diversity by 16S rRNA clone library analysis. The results showed that pH, microbial biomass-associated carbon and nitrogen were lower in the infected soils relative to the control soils while other properties were elevated. In addition, the soil bacterial community abundance followed the order of Acidobacteria > Proteobacteria > Bacteroidetes > Verrucomicrobia > Cyanobacteria/Chloroplast. Shannon–Wiener index, Jaccard index, Shannon evenness, abundance-based coverage estimator (ACE) and species richness estimator (SChao1) decreased below the control levels. B. xylophilus infection led to a reduction in soil bacterial diversity, and Proteobacteria > Acidobacteria > Planctomycetes > Firmicutes in the control soils. Therefore, we suggest that pinewood infections by B. xylophilus can alter the physicochemical properties of forest soils and thus cause changes in the composition and diversity of resident bacterial communities.