Differentiation of endospheric microbiota in ancient and modern wheat
cultivars roots
Abstract
Modern plant breeding and agrosystems artificialization could have
altered plants’ ability to filter and recruit beneficial microorganisms
in its microbiota. Thus, compared to modern cultivars, we hypothesized
that root-endosphere microbiota in modern wheat cultivars are less
resistant to colonization by fungi and bacteria and thus more
susceptible to also recruit more pathogens. We used an in-field
experimental design including six wheat varieties (three ancient vs.
three modern) grown in monoculture and in mixture (three replicates
each). Endospheric microbiota of wheat roots were analyzed on four
individuals sampled randomly in each plot. Composition-based clustering
of sequences was then characterized from amplicon mass-sequencing. We
show that the composition of bacteria and fungi microbiota in wheat
roots differed between in ancient and modern cultivars. However, the
responses observed varied with the group considered. Modern cultivars
harboured higher richness of bacterial and fungal pathogens than ancient
cultivars. A synergistic effect was identified in mixtures of modern
cultivars with a higher root endospheric mycobiota richness than
expected from a null model. The present study shows the effect of plant
breeding on the microbiota associated plant roots. The results call for
making a diagnosis of the cultivar’s endospheric-microbiota composition.
These new results also suggest the importance of a holobiont-vision
while considering plant selection in crops and call for better
integration of symbiosis in the development of next-generation
agricultural practices.