20Polyketides (PK) and nonribosomal peptides (NRP) are two microbial secondary metabolite 21 (SM) families largely known for their variety of functions, including antimicrobials, 22 siderophores and others. Despite their involvement in bacteria-bacteria and bacteria-plant 23 interactions, root-associated SM are largely unexplored due to the limited cultivability of 24 bacteria. Here, we analyzed the diversity, composition and expression of SM-encoding 25 biosynthetic gene clusters (BGC) in root microbiomes by culture-independent amplicon 26 sequencing, shotgun metagenomics and metatranscriptomics. Roots (tomato and lettuce) 27 harbored distinct compositions of nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) and polyketide 28 synthases (PKS) relative to the adjacent bulk soil, and specific BGCs were both enriched and 29 highly expressed in the root microbiomes. While several of the highly abundant and expressed 30 sequences were remotely associated with BGCs encoding antimicrobials, the low similarity to 31 characterized genes suggests their potential novelty. A subset of these genes were screened 32 against a large set of soil-derived cosmid libraries, from which five whole NRPS/PKS BGCs of 33 unknown function were retrieved. Three clusters were taxonomically affiliated with 34 Actinobacteria, while the remaining two were associated with hosts of unknown phylogeny. One
35Streptomyces-derived BGC was predicted to encode for a polyene with potential antifungal 36 activity, while the others were too novel to predict. Screening against a suite of metagenomic 37 datasets revealed that all clusters were profuse in soil and roots, and almost completely absent in 38 aquatic and gut environments, supporting the notion that they play a specific role in root 39 ecosystems. Overall, our results indicate that root microbiomes harbor a specific assemblage of 40 yet undiscovered SM.41 42 3 43 Importance 44 We identified distinct secondary metabolite (polyketide and nonribosomal peptide) encoding 45 genes that are enriched (relative to adjacent bulk soil) and expressed in root ecosystems, yet 46 almost completely absent in human gut and aquatic environments. Several of the genes were 47 distantly related to genes encoding for antimicrobials and siderophores, although the high 48 sequence variability suggests that they encode for novel metabolites and may have unique 49 ecological functions. This study demonstrates that plant roots harbor a diverse array of unique 50 secondary metabolite encoding genes that are highly enriched and expressed in the root 51 ecosystem. The secondary metabolites encoded by these genes are undoubtedly required for 52 bacterial colonization and persistence in the root environment and are most likely associated with 53 inter-bacterial and bacterial-plant interactions. 54 55 Keywords: Soil microbiome, root microbiome, polyketides, nonribosomal peptides, secondary 56 metabolites, plant-microbe interactions 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64Soil is an extremely diverse ecosystem that contains a myriad of micro-and macr...