Spatio-temporal variation in the root-associated microbiota of orchard-grown apple trees

The root-associated microbiome has been of keen research interest especially in the last decade due to the large potential for increasing overall plant performance in agricultural systems. Studies about spatio-temporal variation of the root-associated microbiome focused so far primarily on community-compositional changes of annual plants, while little is known about their perennial counterparts. The aim of this work was to get deep insight into the spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of the root associated microbiota of apple trees.

The bacterial community structure in rhizospheric soil and endospheric root material from orchard-grown apple trees was characterized based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. At the small scale, the rhizosphere and endosphere bacterial communities shifted gradually with increasing root size diameter (PERMANOVA R²-values up to 0.359). At the larger scale, bulk soil heterogeneity introduced variation between tree individuals, especially in the rhizosphere microbiota, while the presence of a root pathogen was contributing to tree-to-tree variation in the endosphere microbiota. Moreover, the communities of both compartments underwent seasonal changes and displayed year-to-year variation (PERMANOVA R²-values of 0.454 and 0.371, respectively).

The apple tree root-associated microbiota can be spatially heterogeneous at field scale due to soil heterogeneities, which particularly influence the microbiota in the rhizosphere soil, resulting in tree-to-tree variation. The presence of pathogens can contribute to this variation, though primarily in the endosphere microbiota. Smaller-scale spatial heterogeneity is observed in the rhizosphere and endosphere microbiota related to root diameter, likely influenced by root traits and processes such as rhizodeposition. The microbiota is also subject to temporal variation, including seasonal effects and annual variation. As a consequence, responses of the tree root microbiota to further environmental cues should be considered in the context of this spatio-temporal variation.