Metagenomics of Beneficial Microbes in Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Date Palm

Abstract

Date palmPhoenix dactylifera (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a major crop species grown in the arid lands of the Middle East and North Africa, contributing to food security. Soil in the desertDesert oases is relatively poor and the increased salinitySalinity of the groundwater used for irrigation has intensified the pressure on the agroecosystemAgroecosystem productivity. Plants host large communities of microorganisms, mainly bacteria and fungi inside and outside their rootsRoots systems which are involved in plant nutrition, and biotic and abiotic stressAbiotic stress resistance. DesertDesert oases exhibit low soil phylogenetic and functional microbial diversity, mostly constrained by environmental stressesEnvironmental stress. However, the date palm shapes endophytic communities and promotes plant growth under abiotic stressesAbiotic stress. The bacterial communities in the desertDesert agroecosystemAgroecosystem are dominated by the classes Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria, phyla Proteobacteria, and are invariably shaped by the date palm. To cope with environmental pressures in desertDesert oases, the date palm rootRoots microbiomeMicrobiome has shown to play a key role in promoting growth and toleranceTolerance to abiotic stressAbiotic stress. The omicsOmics data of the desertDesert microbiomeMicrobiome of date palm are emerging as a new research direction and next-generation sequencingNext generation sequencing (NGS) (NGS) has contributed efficiently to elucidate the community diversity within the date palm rootRoots system. Recent metagenomicsMetagenomics studies of bacterial communities growing within the rootRoots systems of date palm show that the plants select the assembly of their bacterial phyla and promote plant growth under droughtDrought and salinitySalinity stress. Date palm microbiomeMicrobiome structure contributes efficiently to the ecological services of biofertilization and promotes plant growth under abiotic stressAbiotic stress in oasis ecosystemsEcosystem.

Topics & Concepts