Honeybush soil bacterial communities. soil metagenome

Cyclopia spp. is indigenous to the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. This herbal plant is used to manufacture a herbal tea known as honeybush. Due to an increasing demand for these plants, overharvesting of natural plants is becoming a problem. This has led to the establishment of commercial farms. Unfortunately, it was reported that there is a gradual loss in vigour of commercially grown honeybush plants and difficulties in the establishment of seedlings. This study aimed to characterise and compare bacterial diversity associated with the roots of natural and commercially grown Cyclopia spp. Samples from the plant rhizosphere, bulk soil as well as roots were collected twice and included the dry, warm summer season and the cold, wet winter season. The variable V4-V5 region of the 16S rRNA gene were amplified and sequenced. Communities were characterised using next generation sequencing technology on the Ion Torrent (PGM) platform. The variable V4-V5 region of the 16S rRNA gene were amplified and sequenced.