The Fungal and Bacterial Rhizosphere Microbiome of Solanaceae plants inhabiting the Atacama Desert

Understanding the mechanisms by which the rhizosphere microbiome contribute to the adaptation and tolerance of plants growing under extreme conditions can lead to the development of novel agricultural technologies. The Atacama Desert (AD) is among the most extreme environments on Earth, where inhabiting plants face the lack of rainfall, high salinity and extreme temperature oscillations. Nevertheless, several members of the family Solanaceae are capable of thriving under these adverse conditions. Using high-throughput amplicon sequencing, we explored the composition and diversity of fungal and bacterial communities of the rhizosphere of five Solanaceae species growing in the AD.