Influence of plant host and organ, management strategy, and spore traits on microbiome composition

Abstract

<jats:p>Microbiomes from maize and soybean were characterized in a long-term crop rotation research site, under four different land management strategies, to begin unraveling the effects of common farming practices on microbial communities. The fungal and bacterial communities of leaves, stems, and roots in all crops were characterized across the growing season using amplicon sequencing. The wheat rotation has been previously characterized and included here for comparison. Communities differed across plant growth stages and organs, and these effects were most pronounced in the bacterial communities of wheat and maize above-ground organs. Roots consistently had the highest number of unique bacterial OTUs compared to above-ground organs, whereas the alpha diversity of fungi was similar above- and below-ground. Network analyses identified putatively influential members of the microbial communities of the three crops. The fungal OTUs specific to roots, stems or leaves were examined to determine if the specificity reflected their life histories based on previous studies. The analysis suggests that fungal dispersal mechanisms are drivers in organ specificity of the fungal community. Understanding the microbial community structure across the organs of crop plants and identifying influential taxa will provide a critical resource for researchers in future manipulations of naturally occurring microbial communities to reduce plant diseases and to increase crop yields. The ability to predict how these microbes will be dispersed to the target organ will enhance our ability to introduce them sustainably.</jats:p>

Stem Endophytic Mycobiota in Wild and Domesticated Wheat: Structural Differences and Hidden Resources for Wheat Improvement

“…It is also possible that the farm management strategies result in lower species diversity in cultivated wheat compared with the wild species. Diversity difference in maize and soybean endophytes among field management strategies was demonstrated in [1], where the alpha diversity in soybean stems was higher in organic fields at a vegetative stage.…”

“…Terrestrial plants contain communities of fungal endophytes that occupy all plant parts, from roots to seeds. In general, the vast majority of the taxa in a given fungal endophyte community (FEC) are sporadic, and only a relatively small set of more predominant taxa show association with specific factors, such as host genotype, environmental conditions, or plant organs [1,2]. It is also evident that the communities are highly stochastic and variable, and include a large proportion of rare taxa [3].…”