International core microbiome of banana (Musa spp.)

Bananas are vital to the economy and food security of many nations but are constrained by multiple factors, including some that lack effective solutions. Banana microbiomes strongly influence host health and nutrition and may offer novel solutions to production constraints. Management of microbial communities is challenging, however, due to their variability across space and time. Despite this, a small number of 'core' taxa are almost always associated with their host irrespective of geographical and temporal differences. While robust research on banana core microbiomes has been conducted within countries, no work has been done on identifying internationally relevant core taxa of Musa spp. Here we use phylogenetic marker gene sequencing to identify core bacterial and fungal taxa across 24 sites from Australia, Africa and Southeast Asia. This list of international core taxa represents logical targets for isolation efforts to build biobanks of core taxa that can later be used in product development and inform microbiome management approaches for growers.