Metagenomics of Beneficial Microbes in Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Date Palm

Abstract

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a major crop species grown in the arid lands of the Middle East and North Africa, contributing to food security. Soil in the desert oases is relatively poor and the increased salinity of the groundwater used for irrigation has intensified the pressure on the agroecosystem productivity. Plants host large communities of microorganisms, mainly bacteria and fungi inside and outside their roots systems which are involved in plant nutrition, and biotic and abiotic stress resistance. Desert oases exhibit low soil phylogenetic and functional microbial diversity, mostly constrained by environmental stresses. However, the date palm shapes endophytic communities and promotes plant growth under abiotic stresses. The bacterial communities in the desert agroecosystem are dominated by the classes Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria, phyla Proteobacteria, and are invariably shaped by the date palm. To cope with environmental pressures in desert oases, the date palm root microbiome has shown to play a key role in promoting growth and tolerance to abiotic stress. The omics data of the desert microbiome of date palm are emerging as a new research direction and next-generation sequencing (NGS) has contributed efficiently to elucidate the community diversity within the date palm root system. Recent metagenomics studies of bacterial communities growing within the root systems of date palm show that the plants select the assembly of their bacterial phyla and promote plant growth under drought and salinity stress. Date palm microbiome structure contributes efficiently to the ecological services of biofertilization and promotes plant growth under abiotic stress in oasis ecosystems.KeywordsAbiotic stressDesert microbial communityMetagenomicsPlant microbiome Phoenix dactylifera