Abstract:Liaoning Province is one of the major habitats of Suaeda liaotungensis in China, but little is known about the population structure and distribution characteristics of the fungal species in the rhizosphere soil of this species. In present study, the fungal species from rhizosphere soil of Suaeda liaotungensis was isolated and identified using soil dilution-plate and traditional morphological methods. The effects of variations in season and salinity on the fungal diversity in the rhizosphere soil were analyzed. The experimental results showed that 6410, 4180, 5730, and 3340 fungal colonies developed from rhizosphere soil in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively. These were classified into 6 genera and 13 species for spring, 9 genera and 16 species for summer, 11 genera and 31 species for autumn, and 6 genera and 12 species for winter. Thirteen genera and 42 fungal species were isolated from Suaeda liaotungensis rhizosphere soil and identified, among which Penicillium, Stachybotrys, Cladosporium, Trichoderma, Aspergillus and Fusarium were the dominant genera. The fungal population structure and composition in Suaeda liaotungensis rhizosphere soil differed between seasons. The magnitude of the Shannon diversity index, richness index, and evenness index of rhizosphere fungi for different seasons, occurred in the following order: autumn > summer > spring > winter. The Shannon diversity index, richness index, and evenness index were the highest in autumn. The richness of fungal species in the rhizosphere soil of Suaeda liaotungensis was nearly seven times that in non-vegetated soil. The Shannon diversity index and evenness index of rhizosphere fungi were 4-8 and 1-1.2 times, respectively, as high as those for non-vegetated soil. Experimental salt-stress habitats were constructed using a NaCl concentration gradient method for affecting the diversity of fungal species in the rhizosphere soil of Suaeda liaotungensis. The result showed that about 60% of fungi could tolerate media with less than 5% NaCl, and nearly 15% were able to grow in media with higher than 10% NaCl. Aspergillus fumigatus and Alternaria tenuissima were tolerant to 16% NaCl or higher. Aspergillus ochraceus, the most salt-tolerant fungus, was tolerant to 20% NaCl. Our results demonstrated that factors such as climate and living environment evidently affected the fungal diversity and similarity in the rhizosphere soil of Suaeda liaotungensis. The innovation of this paper is to study the effect of change in season and salinity on the fungal diversity from rhizosphere soil of Suaeda liaotungensis. Thus, it has significance for further study of Suaeda rhizome fungal diversity. Therefore, the aims of the study were to analyze the fungal diversity in rhizosphere soil of Suaeda liaotungensis in different seasons, to analyze the influence of salinity on the rhizome fungal diversity, to collect potentially economic fungal resources, and to understand the protective effects of Suaeda liaotungensis on soil fungi.