Soil salinity determines the assembly of endophytic bacterial communities in the roots but not leaves of halophytes in a river delta ecosystem

• Published in: Geoderma 2023-05, Vol.433, p.116447, Article 116447
• Main Authors: Zhou, Yi, Wei, Yanli, Ryder, Maarten, Li, Hongmei, Zhao, Zhongjuan, Toh, Ruey, Yang, Peizhi, Li, Jishun, Yang, Hetong, Denton, Matthew D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacteria; Beneficial microbe; Endosphere; Phyllosphere; Plant-growth promoting bacteria
• ISSN: 0016-7061; 1872-6259
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2023.116447

•Soil salinity influenced the root endophytic microbiota of halophyte.•Halophyte leaf microbiome was affected by the dispersal effect.•Core halophyte microbiome mainly included Kushneria, Pelagibius and Rhodomicrobium. Although soil and rhizosphere microbiomes in highly saline environments have been well-studied, the role of soil salinity in the ecological processes affecting endophyte colonization and persistence remain largely unclear in halophytic plants. The present study sampled young and mature plants of the halophyte Suaeda salsa from 42 sites in the Yellow River Delta, China that varied in soil salinity. Soil physicochemical properties, root and leaf microbiomes, phylogenetic variation among plant ecotypes, and leaf metabolites were analysed. In the roots of both young and mature plants, soil salinity significantly influenced the composition of the endophytic microbiota (r = 0.29 ∼ 0.45, P