Core rhizosphere bacteria associated with banana (Musa spp.) across multiple continents

Abstract

Bananas ( Musa spp.) are vital to the economy and food security of many nations but are constrained by multiple issues that often lack effective solutions. Banana microbiomes strongly influence host health and nutrition and may offer novel solutions to production constraints. Management of microbial communities is challenging, however, due to their variability across space and time. Despite this, a small number of ‘core’ taxa are almost always associated with their host irrespective of geographical and temporal differences. While country-level studies have defined core banana taxa, it remains unclear whether these taxa persist across multiple countries and continents. Establishing a multinational core microbiome of banana would help to focus research efforts to develop microbiome-based management strategies that are broadly applicable across diverse production systems. Here we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterise bacterial communities associated with bulk soil and ectorhizosphere samples from banana grown in pots containing soil collected from 24 farms across Australia, Africa and Southeast Asia. By applying abundance-occupancy criteria, we identified 74 core bacterial taxa that were consistently associated with banana across these geographically distinct locations. These taxa represent logical targets for isolation and biobanking, which would support focussed ecological and functional studies and facilitate product development and the design of microbiome management approaches for growers. • Core microbiomes may support crop productivity but vary across environments. • Metabarcoding identified 74 core bacterial taxa of banana across continents. • This study establishes a multinational core microbiome for banana. • These taxa are targets for biobanking, functional studies and product development.