Relationships between Arabidopsis genotype-specific biomass accumulation and associated soil microbial communities

Abstract

Rhizosphere microbial communities are impacted by resident plant species and have reciprocal effects on their host plants. We collected resident soil from five wild populations of Arabidopsis in the United States and Europe in an effort to characterize the impacts of natural soil microbiomes on Arabidopsis growth performance. The microbial communities present in these soils showed differences in community structure as assessed by 454 sequencing and in metabolic activity. While pathogens associated with the Brassica family were rare, diverse genera of potential plant growth promoting rhizobacteria were detected. Seed corresponding to the five Arabidopsis genotypes was grown in resident and nonresident soils to determine relationships among plant growth performance and soil microbial community and edaphic characteristics. Arabidopsis genotypes demonstrated different patterns of relationship between biomass accumulation and microbial community characteristics. This work sheds light on the bacterial populations naturally associated with Arabidopsis and suggests implications of the rhizosphere microbiome for plant growth performance.