Bacterial members of the Pinus pinaster rhizosphere microbiota in a forest subjected to drought conditions

Study Extent

The data were collected in Sierra de Oria (Almería, Southeast Spain, coordinates: 37°31′ N 2° 21′W). The place is covered by a natural population dominated by Pinus pinaster and Pinus halepensis trees, which is under the effect of severe and frequent droughts. Data were collected twice: on July 18, 2017 (summer samples) and on April 24, 2018 (spring samples). The mean temperature and precipitation in June and July (2017) are 23.9 °C and 1.6 mm, and means values in March and April (2018) of 12.1 °C and 26.5 mm, respectively.

Sampling

18 Pinus pinaster trees separated al least 50 m each other were selected in the forest of Sierra de Oria. The soil closely attached to the roots (rhizosphere) was collected. Sampling was performed on July 18, 2017 (summer samples) and on April 24, 2018 (spring samples). The main roots of each tree were followed until young roots were found at a distance of less than 50 cm from the trunk (5-25 cm in depth). The soil closely attached to the roots (rhizosphere soil) was collected manually by rubbing the roots, and 2 g of each rhizosphere soil were mixed with 5 mL of LifeGuard™ Soil Preservation Solution. Samples were kept at 4 ºC until they were processed. Additional samples of soil near the roots (500 g of soil per tree) were also collected to analyze physicochemical properties, solely on July 2017. The determination of soil physicochemical parameters was performed at the Agri-Food Laboratory of the Andalusian Regional Government (Granada, Spain) under the standardized procedures developed by this service. From each rhizosphere soil sample, the total DNA and RNA were extracted by using by using the RNA PowerSoil® Total RNA Isolation Kit and the RNA PowerSoil® DNA Elution Accesory kit. The extracted RNA was retrotranscribed to double stranted cDNA. Thus, 18 samples of cDNA were obtained in summer (C17-01 to C17-18), 18 in spring (C18-01 to C18-18), and 18 samples of DNA were obtained for summer (D17-01 to D17-18) and for spring (D18-01 to D18-18).

Method steps

1. All the experimental procedures were published in detail in the following research artile: "Correlating the above- and belowground genotype of Pinus pinaster trees and rhizosphere bacterial communities under drought conditions", DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155007

Plants commonly identified by people with knowledge of natural resources

1. Bacteria
   rank: kingdom
2. Plantae
   rank: kingdom

The experimental area is located in Sierra de Oria, province of Almería (Andalusia, Spain). Coordinates: 37° 31′ N2° 21′W