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Abstract Detail



Symbioses: Plant, Animal, and Microbe Interactions

Kaplan, Drora [1], Maymon, Maskit [2], Agapakis, Christina [2], Lee, Andrew [2], Wang, Andrew [3], Prigge, Barry [4], Volkogon, Mykola [5], Hirsch, Ann [6].

A Survey of the Microbial Community in the Rhizosphere of Two Dominant Shrubs of the Negev Desert Highlands, Zygophyllum dumosum Boiss. and Atriplex halimus, Using Cultivation-Dependent and –Independent.

More than 50% of the plant’s biomass, namely the roots, is hidden in the soil. Part of that biomass includes the assemblage of bacteria and fungi comprising the root microbiome that lives in the rhizosphere, the 1-3 mm region adjacent to the external surface of the root. Organisms inhabiting the rhizosphere not only exchange molecular signals among themselves and with roots, but they are also responsible for plant nutrition, defense, and plant growth enhancement. In this study, we employed cultivation-dependent and cultivation-independent methods to examine both rhizosphere and bulk soils adapted to the harsh arid environment of the Negev Desert of Israel. Through the use of techniques such as 16S rDNA cloning and sequencing, community-level physiological profiling, cultivation-based methods, and trap experiments, we generated a sketch of the soil microbes associated with the desert perennials Zygophyllum dumosum and Atriplex halimus. To determine microbial factors that are likely to contribute to plant growth in deserts, we analyzed the physiological properties of some of the isolates. Several nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, cellulase-producing microbes, and also organisms with the potential to promote plant growth via a number of different mechanisms were isolated and identified. This study provides a community profile of this region of the Negev Desert, which like many deserts, is vulnerable to exploitation for other purposes, including solar energy production and dry land farming. Analysis of endangered desert rhizosphere communities has the potential to identify plant growth-promoting microbes that could be used to improve plant productivity in nutrient-poor, arid soils that are likely to become more common as the climate changes.

Broader Impacts:


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1 - Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Environmental Hydrology and Microbiology, Sede Boqer Campus Midreshet Ben-Gurion, 84990, Israel
2 - University of California Los Angeles, Mol. Cell & Develop. Biol., 621 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California (CA), 90095, USA
3 - University of California Los Angeles, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Los Angeles, California (CA), 90095, USA
4 - University of California Los Angeles, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA Herbarium, Los Angeles, California (CA), 90095, USA
5 - National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology, Educational and Scientific Centre, Kyiv, 01601, Ukraine
6 - University of California Los Angeles, DEPT OF MOL, CELL, & DEVEL BIO, 621 Charles Young Dr., South, LOS ANGELES, CA, 90095-1606, USA

Keywords:
Atriplex halimus
cultivation-dependent
cultivation-independent
desert rhizosphere
trap experiments
Zygophyllum dumosum.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 8
Location: Prince of Wales/Riverside Hilton
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2013
Time: 8:00 AM
Number: 8001
Abstract ID:347
Candidate for Awards:None


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