Metagenomic Profile of Endophytic Bacteria in Acacia mearnsii.

Abstract

Acacia mearnsii is one of the invasive plants belonging to the Mimosaceae family. The family is known to be able to symbiosis with some endophytic nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria. Such ability will significantly contribute to plant growth and development by influencing nutrient uptake and stress tolerance and thus to improve soil conditions for a better and more fertile. Comprehensive identification of bacterial population dynamic in that zone should elucidate symbiosis mechanism that in turn can be used for soil improvement. Metagenomic-based profiling are now commonly used in studying whole total microbial communities in nature. Sampling of the root was collected from A. mearnsii young trees grown in Alahan Panjang at 60 and 120 days after transplanting, sterilized and stored at -80°C in a falcon tube before being subjected to metagenome analysis. The dynamics of growth and diversity of endophytic microbes were checked through amplicon sequence of the 16S rRNA gene in the V3-V4 region using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) platform. Data analysis was performed using the QIIME2 application. The metagenomics analysis of endophytic bacteria on root A. mearnsii elucidates that the Proteobacteria is a dominant phyla in A. mearnsii root and analysis at the genera level shows that most of the Proteobacteria is dominated by the Bradyrhizobium which increase significantly during early growth phase.