Prairie plants harbor distinct and beneficial root-endophytic bacterial communities

PLoS One. 2020 Jun 23;15(6):e0234537. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234537. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Plant-soil feedback studies attempt to understand the interplay between composition of plant and soil microbial communities. A growing body of literature suggests that plant species can coexist when they interact with a subset of the soil microbial community that impacts plant performance. Most studies focus on the microbial community in the soil rhizosphere; therefore, the degree to which the bacterial community within plant roots (root-endophytic compartment) influences plant-microbe interactions remains relatively unknown. To determine if there is an interaction between conspecific vs heterospecific soil microbes and plant performance, we sequenced root-endophytic bacterial communities of five tallgrass-prairie plant species, each reciprocally grown with soil microbes from each hosts' soil rhizosphere. We found evidence of plant-soil feedbacks for some pairs of plant hosts; however, the strength and direction of feedbacks varied substantially across plant species pairs-from positive to negative feedbacks. Additionally, each plant species harbored a unique subset of root-endophytic bacteria. Conspecifics that hosted similar bacterial communities were more similar in biomass than individuals that hosted different bacterial communities, suggesting an important functional link between root-endophytic bacterial community composition and plant fitness. Our findings suggest a connection between an understudied component of the root-endophytic microbiome and plant performance, which may have important implications in understanding plant community composition and coexistence.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Bacteria / classification
  • Bacteria / genetics
  • Endophytes / classification
  • Endophytes / genetics
  • Grassland
  • Microbiota / genetics*
  • Phylogeny
  • Plant Development / genetics*
  • Plant Roots / genetics
  • Plant Roots / microbiology
  • Plants / genetics
  • Plants / microbiology*
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Rhizosphere
  • Soil Microbiology*

Substances

  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S