Bacterial communities in rhizosphere of different crop species studied by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP)

Rhizosphere is the site of microbial activity due to enhanced level of root exudates which provides energy for the different microbiological processes. The nature and amount of root exudates are different in different crop rhizosphere affecting the microbial activity. Eight soil samples from rhizosphere of sorghum, chickpea, wheat and mustard collected from different agro climatic region of Haryana state were analyzed for bacterial community structures using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis. The community DNA amplified using BAC 16S rRNA gene primers, restricted with Msp.I and Hha.I enzymes and length of terminal restriction fragments was determined on ABI Prism Genetic Analyser 310. Bacterial communities in sorghum, chickpea, wheat and mustard rhizosphere were diverse as indicated by the number of phylotype present in the rhizosphere soils. Soil chemical properties and host plant determined the structure of bacterial communities in the rhizosphere. The phylotype richness was related to soil organic C. Wheat rhizosphere soil having maximum organic C showed highest phylotype richness while mustard rhizosphere with lowest organic C soil was poorest.