Characterizing soil microbial communities of Chenopodium species in North America

Chenopodium quinoa has potential for cultivation in New England; however, the crop is not adapted to the local climate and abiotic and biotic stresses present obstacles for production in the Northeast. It is expected that New England native wild relatives of quinoa may harbor unique relationships with microbial partners that could be important in the successful introduction of quinoa to the region. Crop wild relatives provide a source of host and environment adapted microbes however, little is known of the microbial associations of Chenopodium species in North America. This work aimed to 1) characterize microbial bulk and rhizosphere communities associated with Chenopodium spp. across the United States and 2) compare microbial communities present in wild and agricultural sites and in association with different Chenopodium spp. Here we show that fungal rhizosphere community composition is mediated by host genetics that differ based on host evolutionary history. Results also suggest that wild Chenopodium relatives in New Hampshire may be recruiting beneficial microbes such as Lysobacter spp. in wild settings that could serve as potential biostimulant strains on quinoa. This work is one of the first studies to evaluate microbiomes associated with wild relatives of quinoa in North America, which is a critical first step in the process of evaluating how the microbiome impacts quinoa plant health and how plants benefit from their resident microbial communities.