Drought influences the plant microbiome community structure

Abstract

Drought is predicted to increase in frequency and severity in many regions across the globe due to climate change. Plants must adapt to reduced water availability and increased temperatures, and much of this adaptation will be mitigated by the adaptations of the plant microbiome. Plant associated microbes provide a variety of beneficial functions to the plant host including the mitigation of plant abiotic stress. Given the relatively short timeframe by which microbes can evolve, we postulate that much of the rapid adaptation of the holobiont, the functioning unit of a plant and all its associated microbes, will be instigated by the microbes. In this dissertation, we demonstrate that (1) plant microbiome rhizosphere communities adjust in response to water deficit, (2) plant microbiome assembly in multiple niche compartments is influenced by water deficit, and (3) drought influences the plant microbiome in concert with AMF inoculation and the preexisting, native soil microbiome.