Microbial phylotype composition and diversity predicts plant productivity and plant-soil feedbacks

The relationship between ecological variation and microbial genetic composition is critical to understanding microbial influence on community and ecosystem function. In glasshouse trials using nine native legume species and 40 rhizobial strains, we find that bacterial rRNA phylotype accounts for 68%...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology letters 2013-02, Vol.16 (2), p.167-174
Main Authors: Bever, James D., Broadhurst, Linda M., Thrall, Peter H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acacia
Acacia - growth & development
Acacia - microbiology
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Bacteria
Biological and medical sciences
Community ecology
Diversity-productivity
DNA, Ribosomal
Ecosystem
ecosystem function
Fabaceae - microbiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Genetic Markers
Genetic Variation
Legumes
microbial ecology
molecular ecology
mutualism
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
plant ecology
Plant growth
Plant populations
plant-microbe interactions
plant-soil feedback
rhizobia
Rhizobium - genetics
Rhizobium - physiology
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics
Soil Microbiology
Soil microorganisms
specificity
symbiosis
Symbiosis - genetics
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Summary:The relationship between ecological variation and microbial genetic composition is critical to understanding microbial influence on community and ecosystem function. In glasshouse trials using nine native legume species and 40 rhizobial strains, we find that bacterial rRNA phylotype accounts for 68% of amoung isolate variability in symbiotic effectiveness and 79% of host specificity in growth response. We also find that rhizobial phylotype diversity and composition of soils collected from a geographical breadth of sites explains the growth responses of two acacia species. Positive soil microbial feedback between the two acacia hosts was largely driven by changes in diversity of rhizobia. Greater rhizobial diversity accumulated in association with the less responsive host species, Acacia salicina, and negatively affected the growth of the more responsive Acacia stenophylla. Together, this work demonstrates correspondence of phylotype with microbial function, and demonstrates that the dynamics of rhizobia on host species can feed back on plant population performance.
ISSN:1461-023X
1461-0248
DOI:10.1111/ele.12024