Metagenomic analysis of vineyard soil samples

The bacterial composition and function affects soil fertility and determines ecosystems productivity. The soil bacterial composition could be significant for the winemaking industry since soil may serve as a reservoir for bacterial assemblages found in grapes. In hot and semi-arid regions, little is known about how the external factors (vineyard location and soil characteristics) and seasonality influence the diversity of the soil microbial communities. In this study, we used high throughput metagenomic sequencing to investigate the potential relationships between vineyard locations and the soil microbial community composition of a Cypriot vine variety, Xynisteri, from four different vineyards locations in Cyprus during the time. Pairwise analysis showed that the bacterial community structure was significantly affected by the location as well as sampling time. Similarly, a diversity was also different among sites during the time. The differences found in soil bacterial community composition were associated with soil chemical characteristics (pH, organic matter, nutrients availability) and soil water content. Differential analysis and Random Forest analysis discriminate bacterial taxa that could be important for each location. Our findings suggest that geographic distance along with soil chemical properties play an important role in shaping the composition of vineyard soil associated bacterial communities, which might contribute to the local identity of the wine.