<i>Acinetobacter</i> enrichment shapes composition and function of the bacterial microbiota of field-grown tomato plants.

ABSTRACT: Tomato is a staple crop and an excellent model to study host-microbiota interactions in the plant food chain. In this study, we describe a "lab-in-the-field" approach to investigate the microbiota of field-grown tomato plants. High-throughput amplicon sequencing revealed a three-microhabitat partition, phyllosphere, rhizosphere, and root interior, differentiating host-associated communities from the environmental microbiota. An individual bacterium, classified as Acinetobacter sp., emerged as a dominant member of the microbiota at the plant-soil continuum. To gain insights into the functional significance of this enrichment, we subjected rhizosphere specimens to shotgun metagenomics. Similar to the amplicon sequencing survey, a "microhabitat effect," defined by a set of rhizosphere-

SUBMITTER: Robertson S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12931273 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature