Influence of Plant Genotype and Soil on The Cotton Rhizosphere Microbiome

Rhizosphere microbial communities play important roles in plant growth and health, yet a comprehensive understanding of the effects of plant genotype and soil origin on assembly of rhizosphere microbial community in cotton is missing, which is crucial to utilize these interactions to address the agricultural protection and sustainable development. In this study, we propagate eight cotton genotypes (4 upland cotton cultivars and 4 sea-land cotton cultivars) which varied ability of resistance to Verticillium dahlia, in contrasting soil from three different origins. Amplicon sequencing was applied to profile both bacterial and fungal communities in rhizosphere of cotton. Overall, soil origin was the primary factor causing divergence in rhizosphere microbial community with plant genotype secondarily influential. Both Gossypium barbadense and G. hirsutum rhizosphere microbial communities performed no significant differences on Shannon and Simpson indices. Soil origin explained about 34.0% and 59.0% of the total variability of rhizosphere microbial community whereas plant genotypes within species only accounted for about 1.1% to 6.6% of the total variability. Notably, the Acidobacteria phylum performed higher relative abundance in G. barbadense than in G. hirsutum. Our results provided insights to the dynamics of cotton rhizospheric bacterial and fungal communities and would facilitate to improve cotton growth and development through adjusting the composition of the soil microbial community artificially.