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Effect of Root Diameter on the Selection and Network Interactions of Root-Associated Bacterial Microbiomes in Robinia pseudoacacia L

Microbial Ecology volume 82, pages 391–402 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The high plasticity of root morphology, physiology, and function influences root-associated microbiomes. However, the variation in root-associated microbiome diversity and structures in response to root diameter at different root depths remains poorly understood. Here, we selected black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) as a model plant to investigate the selection and network interactions of rhizospheric and root endophytic bacterial microbiomes associated with roots of different diameters (1, 1–2, and > 2 mm) among root depths of 0–100 cm via the Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The results showed that the alpha diversity of the root-associated bacterial communities decreased with increasing root diameters among different root depths; fewer orders with higher relative abundance, especially in the endosphere, were enriched in association with coarse roots (> 2 mm) than fine roots among root depths. Furthermore, the variation in the enriched bacterial orders associated with different root diameters was explained by bulk soil properties. Higher co-occurrence network complexity and stability emerged in the rhizosphere microbiomes of fine roots than those of coarse roots, in contrast to the situation in the endosphere microbiomes. In particular, the endosphere of roots with a diameter of 1–2 mm exhibited the lowest network complexity and stability and a high proportion of keystone taxa (e.g., Cytophagia, Flavobacteriia, Sphingobacteriia, β-Proteobacteria, and γ-Proteobacteria), suggesting a keystone taxon-reliant strategy in this transitional stage. In summary, this study indicated that root diameter at different root depths differentially affects rhizospheric and endophytic bacterial communities, which implies a close relationship between the bacterial microbiome, root function, and soil properties.

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Data Availability

The raw sequence data reported in this paper are available in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive under BioProject PRJNA600550.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31870476 and 41830755).

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Affiliations

  1. Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang, 712100, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaoyu Zai, Wen Luo, Wenqing Bai, Yuhua Li, Xuee Gao, Gehong Wei & Weimin Chen

  2. Department of Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, 442000, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao Xiao

  3. Depatamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biologicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 11340, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Entao Wang

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  1. Xiaoyu Zai
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  2. Wen Luo
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  3. Wenqing Bai
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  4. Yuhua Li
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Correspondence to Weimin Chen.

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Zai, X., Luo, W., Bai, W. et al. Effect of Root Diameter on the Selection and Network Interactions of Root-Associated Bacterial Microbiomes in Robinia pseudoacacia L. Microb Ecol 82, 391–402 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-020-01678-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-020-01678-4

Keywords

  • Root-associated bacterial microbiome
  • Root diameter
  • Root depth
  • Co-occurrence network