3Center for Rhizosphere Biology, Department of
Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
* Corresponding author:j.vivanco@colostate.edu,
(970) 443-6096
This work was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de
São Paulo (FAPESP) grant 2014/50275-9, Conselho Nacional de
Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) grant 482737/2012-3 to
MCSF, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
(CAPES) – Finance Code 001, a USDA-Cooperative Agreement, and the
Colorado State University Agricultural Experiment Station. MLM was the
recipient of the FAPESP/DR fellowship 2016/18001-1 and FAPESP/BEPE
fellowship 2017/05465-2. MCSF is also a research fellow of CNPq.
ABSTRACT
Plants and insects have developed an evolutionary relationship over
time. It is known that aboveground insect damage influences molecular
modifications in plant defense systems, leading to changes in root
exudation patterns and carbon allocation. Mounting evidence demonstrated
in specific crops shows that plants modulate their rhizosphere microbes
in response to leaf-herbivory attack. However, the influence of a
specific herbivore on rhizosphere microbiomes across different crop
species and its communalities remains unknown. Here, we studied the
relationships between aboveground insect herbivory (Trichoplusia
ni ) damage and rhizosphere microbiome effects across five plant species
(Zea mays ‘sh2,’ Phaseolus vulgaris L. ‘Seychelles,’Solanum lycopersicum ‘Rutgers,’ Beta vulgaris L. ‘Burpee
Bred,’ and Arabidopsis thaliana Ecotype Col-0). We investigated
whether insect damage may influence the recruitment of beneficial
microbes across plant species to minimize the burden associated with the
attack. Our results show a significant increase in the rhizosphere
abundance of certain beneficial microbial taxa includingAzospirillum , Burkholderia , and Arthrobacte r,
consistently across all plant species tested. Furthermore, a significant
reduction in the biomass was observed among the second generation of
plants grown under the conditioned soil without insect damage.
Keywords: 16S rRNA, herbivory, insects, plants, bacteria,
rhizosphere, microbiota.
We thank members of Professor Vivanco’s group for helping us with the
discussion and providing valuable comments. We also thank Dr. Alison K.
Hamm (USDA- ARS Soil Management and Sugar Beet Research Unit, Fort
Collins, CO, USA) for technical assistance.