Abstract
The present study aims to decipher microbiota signatures of rhizosphere soil of the medicinal plant A. fruticosum and surrounding bulk soil. The study also investigates differential response of microbes potentially serving to promote drought tolerance in the plant. Microbiomes of rhizosphere and bulk soils were collected after 0, 24 and 48 h of watering, deep sequenced and annotated to the different taxonomic ranks. The results strongly indicated higher relative abundance in rhizosphere soil microbiomes compared to those in the bulk soil of phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Acidobacteria. Of these, growth of Acidobacteria and Firmicutes, in addition to Gemmatimonadetes, Melainabacteria, Elusimicrobia and Armatimonadetes, responded positively to watering across microbiome source. While Cyanobacteria was the only abundant phylum in bulk soil and showed lower abundance in rhizosphere soil due to watering. At the genus level, Bacillus, Microvirga, Adhaeribacter, Sphingomonas, Arthrobacter and Pontibacter are the most abundant in rhizosphere soil, while growth of genera Ramlibacter, Haliangium, Gemmatimonas and unidentified genera of taxon Acidobacteria significantly increased 24 h after watering. Results of the present study warrant comprehensive research to dissect factors influencing differential stress responses and plant-bacterial relationships in order to provide feasible soil management programs in the future.