Investigation of the bacterial retting community of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) under different conditions using next-generation semiconductor sequencing.

The microbial communities associated with kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) plant fibers during retting were determined in an effort to identify possible means of accelerating this process for industrial scale-up. Microbial communities were identified by semiconductor sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons from DNA harvested from plant-surface associated samples and analyzed using an Ion Torrent PGM. The communities were sampled after 96 h from each of three different conditions, including amendments with pond water, sterilized pond water, or with a mixture of pectinolytic bacterial isolates.