Barley Rhizosphere SynCom

The rhizosphere, the area of soil directly adhered to plant roots, is a hot spot for microbial colonisation. It has been shown that there is a direct correlation between root hair development, rhizosphere structure and enrichment , and plant fitness. Previous work by Robertson-Albertyn et al (Frontiers, 2017) investigated the impact root hair mutations had on the Barley rhizosphere microbiota; it was shown that not only do root hair mutations cause lower plant biomass, they also displace the microbiota with a number of OTUs significantly enriched in the rhizosphere of mutant plants versus their wild type homologues. The next step of this study was to investigate what proportion of the Barley rhizosphere can be cultured using traditional microbiology techniques then to isolate, identify and categorise these microorganisms. Once this is achieved isolates carrying genes with known plant growth promoting properties will be used to inoculate both wild type and mutant barley seedlings in order to investigate the impact these organisms may have on plant fitness.