Bacterial microbiome associated with the rhizosphere, root interior and aboveground plant organs of wheat and canola at different growth stages
Beneficial bacteria associated with agricultural crops may potentially increase crop productivity and health. However, during various plant developmental processes, shifts in the diversity and function of bacterial communities often occur. This study investigated the diversity of bacterial communities associated with the rhizosphere, roots and aboveground plant organs of wheat and canola at stem elongation, flowering and ripening stages. The growth chamber experiment consisted of wheat and canola grown in Orthic Brown Chernozem Calcic Kastanozem and Orthic Black Calcic Chernozem soils from agricultural fields in Saskatchewan, Canada. Rhizosphere bacteria communities of wheat and canola were mainly influenced by soil characteristics, whereas specific root endophytic community associated with each crop species. These results suggest that each crop may select distinct root bacterial endophytes from the rhizosphere. Bacteria associated with aboveground plant organs exhibited high variability among crop species and soils, suggesting that environmental factors influenced bacterial community structure in stem, leaf and seeds. Most abundant bacterial genera associated with the rhizosphere of the crops included Gemmatimonas, Solirubrobacter and Nocardioides, as well as unclassified Commamonadaceae, Chitinophagaceae and Sphingomonadaceae. Other genera e.g., Stenotrophomonas, Streptomyces, Variovorax were predominant in wheat roots, whereas Lentzea and Pantoea were the most abundant root endophytes detected in canola. Bacterial communities associated with aboveground organs consisted mostly of Corynebacterium, Pseudomonas, and unclassified Enterobacteriacaeae. This study also revealed that plant growth stages can modulate the diversity of rhizosphere and endophytic bacteria. The influence of plant growth stages on the bacterial microbiome associated with wheat and canola was crop and organ specific.