Seasonal Effect on Bacterial Communities Associated with the Rhizospheres of Polhillia, Wiborgia and Wiborgiella Species in the Cape Fynbos, South Africa

The Cape fynbos biome in South Africa is home to highly diverse and endemic shrub legumes, which include species of Aspalathus, Polhillia, Wiborgia and Wiborgiella. These species play a significant role in improving soil fertility due to their ability to fix N2. However, information regarding their...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microorganisms (Basel) 2022-10, Vol.10 (10), p.1992
Main Authors: Mpai, Tiisetso, Jaiswal, Sanjay K., Cupido, Christopher N., Dakora, Felix D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
16S rRNA
Bacteria
Biodiversity
Community structure
Dry season
Endemic species
Flowers & plants
Fynbos
genera
Genetic testing
Legumes
microbiome
Microbiomes
Microorganisms
phylum
Plant species
Rainy season
Rhizosphere
rRNA 16S
Seasons
shrub legumes
Soil fertility
Soil improvement
Soil microorganisms
Soil testing
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The Cape fynbos biome in South Africa is home to highly diverse and endemic shrub legumes, which include species of Aspalathus, Polhillia, Wiborgia and Wiborgiella. These species play a significant role in improving soil fertility due to their ability to fix N2. However, information regarding their microbiome is still unknown. Using the 16S rRNA Miseq illumina sequencing, this study assessed the bacterial community structure associated with the rhizospheres of Polhillia pallens, Polhillia brevicalyx, Wiborgia obcordata, Wiborgia sericea and Wiborgiella sessilifolia growing at different locations during the wet and dry seasons in the Cape fynbos. The results showed that the most dominant bacterial phylum was Actinobacteria during both the dry (56.2–37.2%) and wet (46.3–33.3%) seasons. Unclassified bacterial genera (19.9–27.7%) were the largest inhabitants in the rhizospheres of all five species during the two seasons. The other dominant phyla included Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Mycobacterium and Conexibacter genera were the biggest populations found in the rhizosphere soil of all five test species during both seasons, except for W. obcordata soil sampled during the dry season, which had Dehalogenimonas as the major inhabitant (6.08%). In this study plant species and growth season were the major drivers of microbial community structure, with W. obcordata having the greatest influence on its microbiome than the other test species. The wet season promoted greater microbial diversity than the dry season.
ISSN:2076-2607
2076-2607
DOI:10.3390/microorganisms10101992