Insufficient sampling constrains our characterization of plant microbiomes.

ABSTRACT: Plants host diverse microbial communities, but there is little consensus on how we sample these communities, and this has unknown consequences. Using root and leaf tissue from showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), we compared two common sampling strategies: (1) homogenizing after subsampling (30 mg), and (2) homogenizing bulk tissue before subsampling (30 mg). We targeted bacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and non-AM fungi in roots, and foliar fungal endophytes (FFE) in leaves. We further extracted DNA from all of the leaf tissue collected to determine the extent of undersampling of FFE, and sampled FFE twice across the season using strategy one to assess temporal dynamics. All microbial groups except AM fungi differed in composition between the two sampling strategies. Community o

SUBMITTER: Bullington LS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7878899 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature