Seed microbiota of an oat diversity panel

This study aimed to profile the bacterial seed-endophytic communities across a diversity panel of approximately 200 oat genotypes, using 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing. The selection of oat genotypes represented a genotypically and phenotypically diverse panel, selected from the Spring Oat Association Mapping Population held at IBERS, Aberystwyth University. All seed material used for the study was harvested from a single field trial to minimise variation introduced by environmental variables. The study aimed to evaluate the genotypic-specificity of the oat seed microbiota, as well as to test for associations between community composition and various factors, including: host phenotypic traits, host genetic relatedness and plant breeding factors (comparison of old and modern varieties). The results contributed to the overall aim of gaining insight into the factors that may influence the assembly of the seed-endophytic community in oat.