Structural changes in rhizobacteriome of adapted plants associated with multiple climatic stressors

The rhizomicrobiome is fundamental for plant health and quality, including biogeochemical processes that regulates the functioning of ecosystems and the services they provide. Several abiotic and biotic factors have been shown to strongly influence rhizomicrobial community structure. Within the context of a changing environment, particularly as it relates to threats of water and nutrient stress facing terrestrial ecosystems, increased emphasis has been placed on understanding how abiotic stress conditions influence the composition and functioning of the root microbiome. Though, both environmental and plant characteristics have profound effects on microbial communities, it is somewhat debatable whether environmental factors or selection by plant genotype are the greatest determinant. Given that society seeks to adapt to climate change, such knowledge has scientific and economic merit. The extent to which multiple edaphoclimatic factors, plant genotype, their associated root traits, and biomass allocation influenced rhizobacterial communities in water and nutrient stressed environments was investigated. The Aripo Savannas were selected for the research because of its hyper-seasonal nature, which presented a unique opportunity to study plant species frequently exposed to altering stress cycles of extended drought and flood-like conditions, in the same habitat. In the context of global climate change projections for tropical regions, this site provided a more realistic context to assess plant-microbial interaction compared to separate habitats with one extreme stress or the other.