Comparative study of neighboring tree-associated belowground microbial communities subjected to different soil management

Trabajo presentado en el Congress of Microbiology and Biotechnology (Microbiotec 19), celebrado en Coimbra del 5 al 7 de diciembre de 2019.
It is well-known that different plant species, and even plant varieties, promote different assemblages of the microbial communities associated to them. Here, we investigate how microbial communities (bacteria and fungi) undergo changes within the influence of woody plants (two olive cultivars, one tolerant and another susceptible to the soilborne fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae, plus wild Holm-oak) grown in the same soilbut with different management (agricultural versus native). By the use of rRNA and ITS Illumina amplicon sequencing we determined that the native Holm-oak trees rhizosphere microbial communities were different from its bulk soil. Moreover, the agricultural management used in the olive orchard led to belowground microbiota differences with respect to the natural conditions both in bulk soils and rhizospheres. However, agricultural management removed the differences in the microbial communities between the two olive cultivars, and these differences were minor respect to the olive bulk soil. According to our results, and at least under the agronomical conditions here examined, the composition and structure of the rhizospheric microbial communities do not seem to play a major role in olive tolerance to V. dahliae.