The rhizoplane/endosphere of wild Arabidopsis accessions

To investigate the role of plant genes in shaping root-associated microbial communities, we grew wild Arabidopsis thaliana accessions in a field site where the model is known to occur. Because Arabidopsis predominantly occurs as a winter annual, we grew the plants from October until late March (~156 days). At the end of the field experiment, we collected the plants using sterile technique and plants were separated at the root collar. Samples were then flash frozen in the field before being stored at -80C.To characterize the bacteria and fungi in the rhizoplane and endosphere of the roots, samples were washed in phosphate buffer. PCR amplification and sequencing of ITS1 and the hypervariable regions V5-7 of 16S rDNA was used to characterize the bacteria and fungi of these samples.