Metabolic potential and community structure of bacteria in an organic tea plantation

Abstract Revealing the spatial and temporal distribution of bacteria in organic tea plantations is of great importance to clarify soil- and/or tea plant-associated community. In this study samples were collected from three rhizo-compartments of tea plant during four seasons, which were further subjected to community level physiological profiling and 16S rDNA next generation sequencing. Organic fertilization caused a short-term disturbance on pH, EC, and organic matter content of soil. Three rhizo-compartments harbored distinct bacterial community as revealed by PCA, PCoA and UPGMA analysis. Utilization of six carbon source categories was positively correlated with root surface community while negatively correlated with root interior community. Although there were variations in microbial parameters during four seasons, higher metabolic potential and diversity were observed in soil-associated rhizo-compartments. Bacterial families Gemmataceae, Pedosphaeraceae, and Solibacteraceae were more abundant in soil and root surface, while root interior were dominated by families Acidothermaceae, Burkholderiaceae, Ktedonobacteraceae, and Xanthobacteraceae. It is proposed that Burkholderiaceae and Xanthobacteraceae which dominate in root surface or root interior samples and other poorly studied phylogenetic groups may serve as potential candidates to study their interaction with tea plant.