Tea Cultivar Genotype Shapes Rhizosphere Microbiome Assembly Through Metabolic Differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Tea cultivar genotype plays a critical role in shaping rhizosphere microbiome assembly, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study employed a controlled pot experiment with five widely cultivated Chinese tea cultivars (Camellia sinensis) to investigate how cultivar-specific variation influences rhizosphere microbial communities and their assembly processes. Rhizosphere soil microbiomes (bacterial and fungal communities) and metabolomes were characterized using 16S rRNA and ITS2 amplicon sequencing combined with untargeted metabolomics. Significant differences in rhizosphere metabolite composition, primarily organic acids, fatty acids, and carbohydrates, were observed among cultivars, which corresponded to distinct bacterial and fungal community structures. Re

SUBMITTER: Ji L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12899138 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature