Fire alters plant microbiome assembly patterns: integrating the plant and soil microbial response to disturbance
Open Access
- 1 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in New Phytologist
- Vol. 230 (6), 2433-2446
- https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17248
Abstract
It is increasingly evident that the plant microbiome is a strong determinant of plant health. While the ability to manipulate the microbiome in plants and ecosystems recovering from disturbance may be useful, our understanding of the plant microbiome in regenerating plant communities is currently limited. Using 16S rRNA gene and ITS region amplicon sequencing, we characterized the leaf, stem, fine root, rhizome, and rhizosphere microbiome of < 1 y old aspen saplings and the associated bulk soil after a recent high‐intensity prescribed fire across a burn severity gradient. Consistent with previous studies, we found that soil microbiomes are responsive to fire. We extend these findings by showing that certain plant tissue microbiomes also change in response to fire. Differences in soil microbiome compositions could be attributed to soil chemical characteristics, but, generally, plant tissue microbiomes were not related to plant tissue elemental concentrations. Using source tracking modelling, we also show that fire influences the relative dominance of microbial inoculum and the vertical inheritance of the sapling microbiome from the parent tree. Overall, our results demonstrate how fire impacts plant microbiome assembly, diversity, and composition and highlights potential for further research towards increasing plant fitness and ecosystem recovery after fire events.Keywords
Funding Information
- Biological and Environmental Research
This publication has 95 references indexed in Scilit:
- A Multifactor Analysis of Fungal and Bacterial Community Structure in the Root Microbiome of Mature Populus deltoides TreesPLOS ONE, 2013
- phyloseq: An R Package for Reproducible Interactive Analysis and Graphics of Microbiome Census DataPLOS ONE, 2013
- The SILVA ribosomal RNA gene database project: improved data processing and web-based toolsNucleic Acids Research, 2012
- The influences of conifer succession, physiographic conditions and herbivory on quaking aspen regeneration after fireForest Ecology and Management, 2011
- Bayesian community-wide culture-independent microbial source trackingNature Methods, 2011
- BLAST+: architecture and applicationsBMC Bioinformatics, 2009
- Post-fire vegetative dynamics as drivers of microbial community structure and function in forest soilsForest Ecology and Management, 2005
- The effects of wildfire, salvage logging, and post-fire N-fixation on the nutrient budgets of a Sierran forestForest Ecology and Management, 2005
- Fire effects on belowground sustainability: a review and synthesisForest Ecology and Management, 1999
- Soil mineral nitrogen changes following prescribed burning in ponderosa pineForest Ecology and Management, 1992