Buckwheat rhizosphere as a host for unique bacterial species

Wireworm has become a major problem causing extensive crop loss in many potato production areas in Canada. Control measures include the use of chemical pesticides. However, pesticides can affect human health and the environment, and their use has consequently been limited in many countries. Alternative control measures rely on integrated pest management including crop rotation. Hence, buckwheat is used as a rotation crop to mitigate wireworm damage in potatoes. However, less is known about how buckwheat contributes to mitigating the pest incidence. A 16S rRNA metagenomic study was conducted to determine the microbiome associated with buckwheat in comparison with barley grown in two locations with contrasting wireworm densities. The study identified 27 phyla associated with the rhizosphere of the two crops and Proteobacteira, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria were found to be the most abundant. Three non-pathogenic endophytic species, Methylophilus flavus, Saccharopolyspora tripterygii and Deinococcus yunweiensis belonging to the Proteobacteira, Actinobacteria and Deinococcus-Thermus phyla were found to be unique to the buckwheat rhizosphere soil from the two locations. The data will be presented and discussed in the context of sustainable agriculture and rhizosphere microbiome reformatting by rotation crops.