Effect of endophytic microbiota on ginger rhizome development

A ginger variety traditionally cultivated in the Sichuan province of China was used this study. Ginger rhizomes taken from storage were divided into two groups. All of the rhizomes were gently washed in running tap water to remove surface soil and then immersed in sodium hypochlorite for 5 minutes, followed by a rinse in sterile distilled water for 3 minutes. The rhizomes were then air dried. The prepared rhizomes were allowed to develop adventitious buds by placing them in a sterile substrate at 25 Celsius and Seventy five percent relative humidity in an environmental chamber for 30 d. The substrate was maintained in a moist condition by occasional watering. Samples taken prior to being placed in the substrate served as time 0. Six samples each of healthy' and diseased rhizomes were collected every 10 days. Each sample consisted of 10 g of rhizome tissue.Sequencing was performed on an Illumina Hiseq 2500 platform.