Bibliometric Analysis of the Research Characteristics and Trends in Legume Mycorrhiza Field

Background: Legumes are notable for wide distribution and indispensable food function. Majority of legume species are known to form mycorrhizal symbioses. The visualized and quantitative analysis legume mycorrhiza research has been reported although much attention has been paid in this field. Methods: This study reviewed and analyzed systematically the research characteristics and trends in legume mycorrhiza by bibliometric method based on the citation data collected from the Web of Science Core Collection by CiteSpace software. Result: The publication concerning legume mycorrhiza research increases rapidly and is still a hotspot. The most active collaboration countries are USA, France, Germany, China and Australia, whereas the two institutions of University of Western Australia and Chinese Academy of Sciences collaborate most with others. The intellectual structure analysis showed that the main intellectual base is nitrogen-fixing of cereal. The top ranked of keyword by bursts was rhizobia with strength value of 5.2899, which began from 2016 and ended in 2018. The distinction of 24 bursting keywords is relatively small, which showed that the research hotpot and trend should be interaction between legume plants and mycorrhizal fungi for improving nutrition absorption, N-fixation, resistance to stress and their mechanisms in future.