AUTHOR=Kirkman Eleanor R. , Hilton Sally , Sethuraman Gomathy , Elias Dafydd M. O. , Taylor Andrew , Clarkson John , Soh Aik Chin , Bass David , Ooi Gin Teng , McNamara Niall P. , Bending Gary D. TITLE=Diversity and Ecological Guild Analysis of the Oil Palm Fungal Microbiome Across Root, Rhizosphere, and Soil Compartments JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.792928 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.792928 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=
The rhizosphere microbiome is a major determinant of plant health, which can interact with the host directly and indirectly to promote or suppress productivity. Oil palm is one of the world’s most important crops, constituting over a third of global vegetable oil production. Currently there is little understanding of the oil palm microbiome and its contribution to plant health and productivity, with existing knowledge based almost entirely on culture dependent studies. We investigated the diversity and composition of the oil palm fungal microbiome in the bulk soil, rhizosphere soil, and roots of 2-, 18-, and 35-year old plantations in Selangor, Malaysia. The fungal community showed substantial variation between the plantations, accounting for 19.7% of community composition, with compartment (root, rhizosphere soil, and bulk soil), and soil properties (pH, C, N, and P) contributing 6.5 and 7.2% of community variation, respectively. Rhizosphere soil and roots supported distinct communities compared to the bulk soil, with significant enrichment of Agaricomycetes, Glomeromycetes, and Lecanoromycetes in roots. Several putative plant pathogens were abundant in roots in all the plantations, including taxa related to