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PLANT MICROBIOME

Host match improves root microbiome growth

Nature Microbiology volume 6, pages 1103–1104 (2021)Cite this article

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Roots of different plant species are colonized by distinct microbiota, even when grown in the same soil. A comprehensive combination of experimental manipulation of plant species, plant mutations, plant signalling, community composition and order of community application reveals how community assembly differs among plant species.

Plants interact with a multitude of soil microorganisms, ranging from pathogenic to mutualistic species and strains. Different plant species have distinct root microbiota1, but the mechanisms underlying root-associated microbiota assembly remain largely mysterious. Several processes may contribute to the observed variation in community structure, including local adaptation, bacteria–bacteria interactions, or neutral processes. Reporting in this issue of Nature Microbiology, Wippel et al.2 collated 16S rDNA sequence–indexed libraries of bacterial communities found in natural field soil and manipulated synthetic inocula of 16–21 members at the strain level on model organisms Arabidopsis thaliana and Lotus japonicus. They found that microbial communities were consistently more effective at colonizing the roots of the host that they were derived from than those of another host.

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Fig. 1: Differential microbiome assembly on plant roots.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    A. M. O’Brien & T. L. Harrison

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  1. A. M. O’Brien
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  2. T. L. Harrison
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Correspondence to A. M. O’Brien.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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O’Brien, A.M., Harrison, T.L. Host match improves root microbiome growth. Nat Microbiol 6, 1103–1104 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-00957-1

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