Holobiome Structure and Microbial Core Assemblages of <i>Deschampsia antarctica</i> Across the South Shetland Islands.

ABSTRACT: Antarctica harbors some of the most extreme ecosystems on earth, where only two vascular plants persist. The native grass Deschampsia antarctica provides a model for plant-microbe interactions under intense abiotic stress. We present the first multi-compartmental and multi-kingdom characterization of bacterial and fungal communities associated with D. antarctica across three South Shetland Islands. Metabarcoding revealed strong compartmentalization: the rhizosphere displayed the highest richness and complex bacterial-fungal networks; the root endosphere showed intermediate diversity with keystone taxa such as Rhizobiales and Streptomyces; and the leaf endosphere was simplified, dominated by stress-tolerant taxa including Pseudomonas and Helotiales.

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12693956 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature