Drought Stress Results in a Compartment-Specific Restructuring of the Rice Root-Associated Microbiomes

ABSTRACT Plant roots support complex microbial communities that can influence plant growth, nutrition, and health. While extensive characterizations of the composition and spatial compartmentalization of these communities have been performed in different plant species, there is relatively little known about the impact of abiotic stresses on the root microbiota. Here, we have used rice as a model to explore the responses of root microbiomes to drought stress. Using four distinct genotypes, grown in soils from three different fields, we tracked the drought-induced changes in microbial composition in the rhizosphere (the soil immediately surrounding the root), the endosphere (the root interior), and unplanted…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: IOS 1444974
• CN
  Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
• UO
  University of California, Davis