A rhizosphere microbial community of Miscanthus x giganteus grown in Kastanozem soil treated with zinc and heavy-metal-resistant PGPR inoculants

Studies on the rhizospheric microbial communities of Miscanthus x giganteus, a well-known heavy metal resistant plant species, are scarce. Meanwhile, under conditions of strong soil contamination with heavy metals, indigenous and/or introduced rhizosphere microorganisms are able to compensate for the stressful effects of pollutants on plants. This bioproject is devoted to assessing the effect of Zn2+ (at the concentration of 1650 mg/kg) and heavy-metal-resistant PGPRs on the rhizosphere microbiome of miscanthus grown in Kastanozem soil under laboratory pot experiment. Three previously isolated bacterial strains were used for plant inoculation: a member of the genus Azospirillum from the Poa pratensis rhizosphere and members of the genera Chitinophaga and Mycolicibacterium from the Miscanthus x giganteus rhizosphere. The results will allow a better understanding of the formation of this microbiome depending on the applied treatments, which is one of the conditions for the successful development of microbial biopreparations to clean-up soils contaminated with heavy metals.