Assembly and potential transmission of the Lens culinaris seed microbiome

Soil is an important source of bacteria and fungi for the plant, but seeds can also provide microbial inocula through heritable or stochastic assembly. Seed-associated microbial communities can potentially interact with the host plant through multiple generations. Here, we assessed the impact of two different soil types on the seed microbiome assembly of seven lentil (Lens culinaris) genotypes under environmentally controlled conditions and examined the vertical transmission of bacterial communities from seed to seed across two generations. Bulk soil microbiomes and seed microbiomes were characterized using high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Our results revealed that bacterial communities in the two soils differed significantly and that bacterial communities associated with seeds were significantly impacted by genotype (15%) in one of the soils. Co-occurrence of amplicon sequence variants between generations suggests that members of the genera Cutibacterium, Methylobacterium, Sphingomonas, Streptococcus and Tepidimonas are transmitted and preserved in lentil genotypes irrespective of the soil in which they were grown. Increasing our knowledge of how microbial communities carried by seeds are assembled, transmitted and preserved offers a promising way for future breeding programs to consider microbial communities when selecting for more resilient and productive cultivars.

Automated summary

Seed-associated microbial communities are influenced by genetic factors and soil types, with certain bacterial genera being transmitted across generations. Understanding the assembly, transmission, and preservation of seed-borne microbial communities could inform future breeding programs for more resilient and productive cultivars.