Isolation and Analysis of Microbial Communities in Soil, Rhizosphere, and Roots in Perennial Grass Experiments.

ABSTRACT: Plant and soil microbiome studies are becoming increasingly important for understanding the roles microorganisms play in agricultural productivity. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide detail on how to rapidly sample soil, rhizosphere, and endosphere of replicated field trials and analyze changes that may occur in the microbial communities due to sample type, treatment, and plant genotype. The experiment used to demonstrate these methods consists of replicated field plots containing two, pure, warm-season grasses (Panicum virgatum and Andropogon gerardii) and a low-diversity grass mixture (A. gerardii, Sorghastrum nutans, and Bouteloua curtipendula). Briefly, plants are excavated, a variety of roots are cut and placed in phosphate buffer, and then shaken to collect the rhizosphere.

SUBMITTER: McPherson MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6126543 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature