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Analysis of Genetic and Environmental Factors Controlling the Maize Rhizobiome: An Alternative Avenue for Crop Improvement
Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that root-colonizing microbes play a major role in nutrient use efficiency, disease resistance and overall plant fitness, and such symbiotic plant-microbe relationships may be harnessed to sustainably improve agricultural production, particularly under reduced levels of nitrogen (N) fertilization. The work presented here generated insights into the environmental and genetic factors that shape root microbial communities in maize (Zea mays L.), one of the most important crops in U.S. agriculture. First, I review current challenges in microbial community analysis through environmental DNA amplicon sequencing. Second, I present a field experiment conducted in a long-term maize-soybean crop rotation system to study the effects of plant species, N treatment and environmental factors on rhizosphere microbiomes, and introduce a novel strategy to sort individual 16S sequencing reads into experimentally consistent microbial groups at low taxonomic ranks. Third, I present a study conducted on a maize diversity panel that revealed evidence of adaptive selection of microbes as well as direct links between plant genetics and the abundance of individual members of the maize rhizobiome.
Subject Area
Plant Pathology|Genetics|Microbiology
Recommended Citation
Meier, Michael A, "Analysis of Genetic and Environmental Factors Controlling the Maize Rhizobiome: An Alternative Avenue for Crop Improvement" (2021). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI28864386.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI28864386