Defining root colonization strategies in cucumber, tomato, maize and wheat plant species

Rhizosphere is an organized unit, composed of the root and its associated soil. The rhizosphere bacterial community affect root health and development. On the other hand the presence and activities of the roots are the driving force for activity, function, composition and structure of the soil microbial community. DNA- and RNA-based, highly resolved, microbial ecology analysis was performed on the rhizoplane and rhizosphere of Cucumber, Tomato, Wheat and Maize (14d old). For the first time, the rhizosphere effect of each plant was quantified numerically. The Maize and Tomato were found to possess the higher rhizosphere effect compared to Wheat, while the cucumber's rhizosphere effect was the lowest. It was detected to which extent the active, dominant species are abundant in the rhizosphere and the rhizoplane: the Pseudomonas specie is highly dominant in the rhizoplane of maize and wheat with 66% 47%, respectively. Interestingly, it was observed that the DNA and RNA combined data may tell us the information considering the bacterial dynamics at the measured moment and it is possible to conclude about the history of the development of microbial communities dynamics during different plant growth stages.