Meta-sequencing of bacterial endophytes in clean and FHB-infected barley seeds.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) mainly used for malting, feed, and food is infected by Fusarium graminearum and other species of Fusarium causing Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease in barley. It infects barley kernels and degrade seed quality. Apart from the yield loss, FHB pathogens produce mycotoxins, particularly deoxynivalenol which is known to have negative health impacts on both humans and animals. The present study was aimed at investigating the effect of FHB on the bacterial microbiome of four barley genotypes: CDC Bold, GB132013, Kutahya, and AAC Synergy. Both clean and FHB-infected seed samples were obtained from fields in AAFC/Brandon. The bacterial microbiome was sequenced using Illumina 16S meta-sequencing. A major proportion of sequence hits belongs to three genera, Streptophyta, Gp15 and Pantoea irrespective of FHB infection in all four genotypes. Principle Component Analysis (PCA) was done at the genus level. Abundance of genera in clean seeds of the two moderately resistant varieties: GB132013 and Kutahya clustered together with a similarity of 99.69% indicating the high similarity in composition. Moderately resistant GB132013 clustered with the intermediately resistant AAC synergy in FHB-infected seeds samples (90.31% similarity). The differences in microbiome composition may have a role associated with FHB resistance in barley which can be further investigated for future agricultural applications.