Comparative Analysis of Root Microbiomes of Rice Cultivars with High and Low Methane Emissions Reveals Differences in Abundance of Methanogenic Archaea and Putative Upstream Fermenters
Zachary Liechty, Christian Santos‐Medellín, Joseph Edwards, Bao Nguyen, David Mikhail, Shane Eason, Gregory C. Phillips, Venkatesan Sundaresan
Abstract
Rice cultivation is a major source of anthropogenic emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas with a potentially severe impact on climate change. Emission variation between rice cultivars suggests the feasibility of breeding low-emission rice, but there is a limited understanding of how genotypes affect the microbiota involved in methane cycling. Here, we show that the root microbiome of the high-emitting cultivar is enriched both in methanogens and in taxa associated with fermentation, iron, and sulfate reduction and acetogenesis, processes that support methanogenesis. Understanding how cultivars affect microbes with methanogenesis-related functions is vital for understanding the genetic basis for methane emission in rice and can aid in the development of breeding programs that reduce the environmental impact of rice cultivation.