Niche differentiation rather than biogeography shapes the diversity and composition of microbiome of Cycas panzhihuaensis.

backgroundGiven their adaptation to nutrient-poor and drought environments, cycads are vital models for plant-microbiome interaction research because they are likely to host an important reservoir of beneficial microbes that may support cycad survival. However, a comprehensive understanding of the diversity and community composition of microbiome associated with different plant compartments as well as bulk soils of cycad species remains elusive.

methodAn extensive investigation of species diversity and community composition of bacterial and fungal microbiome in roots, seeds, unfertilized seeds, ovules, pollens, and soils of Cycas panzhihuaensis L. Zhou & S. Y. Yang has been conducted by high-through sequencing technology. Moreover, principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and heatmap analysis were applied to test the niche-specific effect and biogeography factor among different sample types of this cycad species.

resultsHighly diverse microbiota and significant variation of community structure were found among different compartments of C. panzhihuaensis. Soils exhibited a remarkable differentiation of bacterial community composition compared to the other five plant organs as revealed by PCA, HCA, and heatmap analyses. Different compartments possessed unique core microbial taxa with Pseudomonadaceae and Nectriaceae shared among them. According to the indicator species analysis, there was almost no differentiation of dominant microbiomes with regard to the geography of the host cycad. Two main transmission models existed in the C. panzhihuaensis.

conclusionsEach sample type represented a unique niche and hosted a niche-specific core microbial taxa. Contrary to previous surveys, biogeography hardly exerted impact on microbial community variation in this study. The majority of the cycad-associated microbes were horizontally derived from soils and/or air environments with the rest vertically inherited from maternal plants via seeds. This study offers a robust knowledge of plant-microbiome interaction across various plant compartments and soils and lends guidelines to the investigation of adaptation mechanism of cycads in arid and nutrient-poor environments as well as their evolutionary conservation.