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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1384204
This article is part of the Research Topic Microorganisms in Sustainable and Green Agriculture: Synergistic Effect on Carbon Sequestration and Crop Productivity View all 10 articles

Comparative analysis of the soil microbiome and carbohydrate content of Anthoxanthum nitens (Sweetgrass) and other Poaceae grass tissues and associated soils

Provisionally accepted
Marissa King Marissa King 1Barinder Bajwa Barinder Bajwa 1Naomi Hanna Naomi Hanna 1Xiaohui Xing Xiaohui Xing 1Kristin E Low Kristin E Low 1Patrick Neuberger Patrick Neuberger 1Erin Hall Erin Hall 1Michael Veltri Michael Veltri 2Brett Weighill Brett Weighill 3,4Leeann Klassen Leeann Klassen 1Noreen Plain Eagle Noreen Plain Eagle 3William Big Bull William Big Bull 3Laura S Lynes Laura S Lynes 5Tony Montina Tony Montina 2Philippe J Thomas Philippe J Thomas 6Monika A Gorzelak Monika A Gorzelak 1Dennis Wade Abbott Dennis Wade Abbott 1,2*
  • 1 Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
  • 2 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Arts and Science, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
  • 3 Piikani Nation, Brocket, Canada
  • 4 Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Science, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
  • 5 The Resilience Institute, Canmore, Alberta, Canada
  • 6 Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Sweetgrass (Anthoxanthum nitens) is a culturally and environmentally significant perennial grass to many Indigenous Peoples; however, little is known about the potential of Sweetgrass as a contributor to soil health, biodiversity, and climate adaptation. Here, a team of transdisciplinary experts from academia, a non-governmental organization, and a First Nation community collaborated to investigate the structural composition of the rhizomes, stems, and leaves of greenhouse-grown Sweetgrass in comparison to other Poaceae grass members found in a nearby field. The data shows that the monosaccharide composition of A. nitens was evenly distributed throughout the three tissues, and that cellulose was the predominant polysaccharide followed by glucuronarabinoxylans. There were lesser amounts of xyloglucans, mixed-linkage glucans, homogalacturonans, and rhamnogalacturonans as the hemicellulosic and pectic polysaccharides, respectively. The carbohydrate composition seen in A. nitens was consistent with the other Poaceae grasses evaluated in this study, with the exception of Setaria chondrachne, which contained elevated pectin levels in its stems and leaves. Additionally, the analysis of the carbohydrate content within the soil samples revealed a higher abundance of carbohydrates within greenhouse soil when compared to field soil samples, with significantly more mannose, galactose, and galacturonic acid. Further, there were structural differences in the microbial communities across sampling sites, including a significant Unclassified / Non classifié increase in the abundance of Bacillus spp. in the greenhouse soil. Overall, this study provides the glycome and associated soil microbial community baseline for greenhouse-grown Sweetgrass.

    Keywords: Sweetgrass, Anthoxanthum nitens, soil microbiome, Glycomics, indigenous knowledge, Transdisciplinary

    Received: 08 Feb 2024; Accepted: 06 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 King, Bajwa, Hanna, Xing, Low, Neuberger, Hall, Veltri, Weighill, Klassen, Plain Eagle, Big Bull, Lynes, Montina, Thomas, Gorzelak and Abbott. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Dennis Wade Abbott, Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Lethbridge, T1J 4B1, Alberta, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.