Investigating Population Genetic Diversity and Rhizosphere Microbiota of Central Apennines’ Artemisia eriantha

Luigi Russi, Gianpiero Marconi (), Nicoletta Ferradini, Beatrice Farda, Marika Pellegrini () and Loretta Pace
Additional contact information
Luigi Russi: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Gianpiero Marconi: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Nicoletta Ferradini: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Beatrice Farda: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, Via Vetoio, Coppito, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Marika Pellegrini: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, Via Vetoio, Coppito, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Loretta Pace: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, Via Vetoio, Coppito, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-14

Abstract: The present study aimed to characterize the genetic structure of Artemisia eriantha Ten. and the diversity of the rhizosphere microbiota. Plant leaves and rhizosphere soils were sampled from three areas of Central Italy, namely Monte Corvo, Monte Portella (both from the Gran Sasso massif), and Monte Focalone (Majella massif). The plant samples were subjected to genetic structure analysis by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. The microbiota from the rhizosphere soils was investigated by 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding. The within and among population variability was typical of outbreeding species. The AFLP polymorphisms revealed a marked closeness among plant populations collected in Monte Focalone and Monte Corvo, despite the geographical proximity of the latter with Monte Portella, a result confirmed by cluster, STRUCTURE, and discriminant analyses. 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding showed higher values of diversity for Monte Corvo (H, 5.7; Chao1, 445) and Monte Focalone (H′, 5.57; Chao1, 446) than Monte Portella (H′, 5.3; Chao1, 275). At the phylum level, the communities were mainly represented by Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria (>10%). At the genus level, the Monte Focalone and Monte Corvo microbiotas were closer than Monte Portella, thus confirming the results from the plant communities. The findings provided evidence for the first time of an association between the Artemisia eriantha plant and microbiota communities. The relevance of the results in terms of biodiversity and the conservation strategies of plant and microbiota communities in the Central Apennines are discussed.

Keywords: Apennines’ genepì; 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding; AFLP markers; genetic structure analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/18/11405/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/18/11405/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:18:p:11405-:d:912392

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().