Distinctive prokaryotic microbiomes in sympatric plant roots from a Yucatan cenote

Cenotes are flooded caves in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Many cenotes are interconnected in an underground network of pools and streams forming a vast belowground aquifer across most of the peninsula. Many plants in the peninsula grow roots that reach the cenotes water and live submerged in conditions similar to hydroponics. Our objective was to study the microbial community associated with these submerged roots of the Sac Actun cenote. We accomplished this objective by profiling the root prokaryotic community using 16S rRNA gene amplification and sequencing.

We identified plant species by DNA barcoding the total genomic DNA of each root. We found a distinctive composition of the root and water bacterial and archaeal communities. Prokaryotic diversity was higher in all plant roots than in the surrounding freshwater, suggesting that plants in the cenotes may attract and select microorganisms from soil and freshwater, and may also harbor vertically transmitted lineages. The reported data are of interest for studies targeting biodiversity in general and root-microbial ecological interactions specifically.