Rare and abundant bacterial communities in poplar rhizosphere soils respond differently to genetic effects

Abstract

Interactions between plants and soil microbes are important to plant hybrid breeding under global change. However, the relationship between host plants and rhizosphere soil microorganisms has not been fully elucidated. Understanding the rhizosphere microbial structure of parents and progenies would provide a deeper insight into how genetic effects modulate the relationship between plants and soil. In this study, two family groups of poplar trees (A: parents and their two progenies; B: parents and their one progeny) with different genetic backgrounds (including seven genotypes) were selected from a common garden, and their rhizobacterial communities were analyzed to explore parent-progeny relationships. Our results showed significant differences in phylogenetic diversity, the number of 16S genes and the structure of rhizosphere bacterial communities (Adonis: R2 = 0.166, P < 0.01) between different family groups. Rhizosphere bacterial community structure was significantly dominated by genetic effects. Compared with abundant taxa, genetic effects were more powerful drivers of rare taxa. In addition, bacterial communities of hybrid progenies were all significantly more similar to their parents compared to the other group of parents, especially among rare taxa. The two poplar family groups exhibited differences between their rhizosphere bacterial co-occurrence networks. Group B had a relatively complex network with 2380 edges and 468 nodes, while group A had 1829 edges and 304 nodes. Soil organic carbon and carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) also influenced the rhizosphere bacterial community assembly. This was especially true for soil C/N, which explained 23 % of the β-nearest taxon index (βNTI) variation in rare taxa. Our results reveal the relationship of rhizosphere microorganisms between parents and progenies. This can help facilitate an understanding of the combination of plant breeding with microbes resource utilization and provide a theoretical basis for scientific advancement to support the development of forestry industry.