Longitudinal characterization of the compositional responses of root-associated bacterial communities to drought and rewetting

Root-associated microbiomes are highly dynamic systems that follow reproducible successional patterns throughout the life cycle of their plant hosts. Abiotic stressors can disrupt this ecological choreography by shifting community composition towards a state better adapted to the perturbed environment. While multiple studies have analyzed the response of rhizosphere and endosphere communities to drought, little is understood about their ability to recover and resume their normal temporal development. Here we performed a longitudinal survey of the changes that the root bacterial communities of rice undergo during and after drought stress.