Pomegranate Rhizosphere Microbial Diversity Revealed by Metagenomics: Toward Organic Farming, Plant Growth Promotion and Biocontrol?

Food production must undergo systems change to meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs). For example, organic farming can be empowered by soil microorganisms with plant growth promotion (PGP) and biocontrol features. In this context, there have been limited studies on pomegranate.

Improved species level bacterial characterization from rhizosphere soil of wilt infected Punica granatum.

Pomegranate crops are prone to wilt complex disease, which is known to severely hamper the crop yield. There have been limited studies that have explored bacteria-plant-host associations in wilt complex disease affecting pomegranate crops. In the present study, wilt infected rhizosphere soil samples (ISI, ASI) in pomegranate were studied in comparison to a healthy control (HSC).

Targeted metagenome sequencing reveals the abundance of Planctomycetes and Bacteroidetes in the rhizosphere of pomegranate.

Agricultural productivity of pomegranate can be enhanced by identifying the crop-associated microbial diversity in the rhizosphere region with respect to plant growth promoters and other beneficial organisms. Traditional culture methods have limitations in microbial screening as only 1-2% of these organisms can be cultured. In the present study, 16S rRNA amplicon-based metagenomics approach using MinION Oxford Nanopore platform was employed to explore the microbial diversity in the rhizosphere of pomegranate Bhagwa variety, across variable soil depths from 0 to 5 cms (R2), 5-10 cms (R4) and 10-15 cms (R6), using bulk soil as the control.

Microbiomics and cloud-based analytics advance sustainable soil management.

Soil constitutes a major component of the agro-ecosystem. Unrestrained uses of chemical pesticides and increased human activities have contributed to unprecedented changes in soil microflora affecting productivity. Modern microbiomics has proven to be an indispensable tool to understand the adaptations underlying complex soil microbial communities and their beneficial applications.