The Microbiome of Eucalyptus Roots under Different Management Conditions and Its Potential for Biological Nitrogen Fixation

Eduardo da Silva Fonseca, Raquel Silva Peixoto, Alexandre Soares Rosado, Fabiano de Carvalho Balieiro, James M. Tiedje, Caio Tavora Coelho da Costa Rachid

Eucalyptus plantations offer a cost-effective and renewable source of raw material. There is substantial interest in improving forestry production, especially through sustainable strategies such as the use of plant growth-promoting bacteria. However, little is known about Eucalyptus microbiology. In this study, the endophytic bacterial community was assessed in Eucalyptus urograndis roots using culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques with plants grown under different conditions. Three phyla accounted for approximately 95% of the community, with Actinobacteria corresponding to approximately 59%. This contrasts with previous studies in which Actinobacteria accounted for only 5 to 10%. Our data also revealed a high diversity of bacteria, with 359 different genera but a high level of dominance. Six genera, Mycobacterium, Bradyrhizobium, Streptomyces, Bacillus, Actinospica, and Burkholderia, accounted for more than 50% of the classified sequences. We observed a significant influence of the treatments on some genera, causing changes in the bacterial community structure. The obtained data also suggest that Eucalyptus may benefit from biological nitrogen fixation, with many abundant genera being closely related to nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Using N-depleted media, we also cultured 95 bacterial isolates, of which 24 tested positive for the nifH gene and were able to maintain growth without any N source in the medium.