Ecological Processes of Bacterial and Fungal Communities Associated with Typha orientalis Roots in Wetlands Were Distinct during Plant Development

ABSTRACT

Root-associated microbiomes are essential for the ecological function of the root system. However, their assembly mechanisms in wetland are poorly understood. In this study, we explored and compared the ecological processes of bacterial and fungal communities in water, bulk soil, rhizosphere soil, and root endosphere niches for 3 developmental stages of Typha orientalis at different wetland sites, and assessed the potential functions of root endosphere microbiomes with function prediction. Our findings suggest that the microbial diversity, composition, and interaction networks along the water-soil-plant continuum are shaped predominantly by compartment niche and developmental stage, rather than by wetland site. Source tracking analysis indicated that T. orientalis’ root endosphere is derived primarily from the rhizosphere soil (bacteria 39.9%, fungi 27.3%) and water (bacteria 18.9%, fungi 19.1%) niches. In addition, we found that the assembly of bacterial communities is driven primarily by deterministic processes and fungal communities by stochastic processes. The interaction network among microbes varies at different developmental stages of T. orientalis, and is accompanied by changes in microbial keystone taxa. The functional prediction data supports the distribution pattern of the bacterial and fungal microbiomes, which have different ecological roles at different plant developmental stages, where more beneficial bacterial taxa are observed in the root endosphere in the early stages, but more saprophytic fungi in the late stages. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the assembly, sources, interactions, and potential functions of wetland plant root microbial communities and have significant implications for the future applications of plant microbiomes in the wetland ecosystem.

IMPORTANCE Our findings provide empirical evidence for the assembly, sources, interactions, and potential functions of wetland plant root microbial communities, and have significant implications for the future applications of plant microbiomes in the wetland ecosystem.