Beneficial plant microorganisms affect the endophytic bacterial communities of durum wheat roots as detected by different molecular approaches

The majority of soil beneficial microbes live in the rhizosphere, a complex and dynamic ecosystem harbouring high numbers of diverse Plant Growth Promoting (PGP) microbial communities, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, Glomeromycota) with their associated bacteria, and Lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Recent studies revealed that lactic acid bacteria characterize the endophytic microbiota of durum wheat, with Lactobacillus plantarum, a key sourdough species, associated with roots, leaves, and spikes during wheat life cycle.Here, as the first step of a comprehensive research plan, we characterized how the endophytic bacterial communities living in durum wheat roots, was affected by the following variables: wheat cultivar, presence/absence of AMF and LAB. To this aim, we utilized the AMF isolate Funneliformis mosseae IMA1 and the lactic acid bacterial strain Lactobacillus plantarum B.MD.R.A2. In order to avoid shortfalls linked to the constraints of cultivation conditions, as well as to the presence of bacteria in viable but non-culturable state, we utilised two culture-independent approaches, such as PCR- DGGE analysis of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene and Illumina Mi Seq. Our data provide knowledge of different factors shaping the composition of endophytic bacterial communities of durum wheat roots.