Drought and Host Selection in the Grass Root Microbiome
D. COLEMAN-DERR (1), D. Naylor (2), S. Deng (2) (1) USDA-ARS, U.S.A.; (2) University of California at Berkeley, U.S.A.

Plant-associated microbial communities play crucial roles in determining the host phenotype. A subset of the plant-associated bacteria and fungi offer benefits to crop species through increasing nutrient and resource uptake efficiency, out-competing plant pathogens, and improving abiotic stress response. Despite much research, a tiny fraction of plant microbiomes have been uncovered and evaluated, and many of the rules governing microbial community recruitment to the host microbiome remain unknown. The objectives of this project were to determine the general and species-specific plant microbiome responses to abiotic stress across the grasses, and to determine the correlation between host phylogenetic distance and phytobiome distance in a series of monocot species. Using 16S rRNA amplicon profiling of rhizosphere and root endospheres and phylogenetic trees based on the hosts’ conserved chloroplast sequences, we have assessed the hypothesis that similar plant species share more similar microbiomes and uncovered conserved trends in root microbiome development in response to drought across the grasses. The identification of these trends may be of benefits to members of industry and academia alike that aim to improve crop performance through the use of biological control agents and other microbe-mediated means. 

Abstract Number: C19-5, P4-122
Session Type: Concurrent