16S Metagenomic Analysis of Microbial Diversity from the Rhizosphere of Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik) Collected from Tezpur, Assam

Lentil plants enhance soil quality and productivity by forming symbiotic relationships with a diverse group of microbes present in the rhizosphere. The Cultivar-specific interactions, Rhizobium strains and plant genetics influence microbial diversity in the rhizosphere. This study aims to evaluate and compare bacterial diversity in lentil rhizospheres using metagenomics and 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Rhizosphere soil samples from lentil cultivated sites were used for sequencing analysis. Genomic DNA was isolated from the rhizospheric soil using a standard protocol. Sanger/Illumina sequencing with a read length of 1.9 was performed on the extracted genomic DNA. Kraken 2 was used for taxonomic classification. Alpha diversity was measured in metagenomic samples to assess diversity.

The present research study identifies Proteobacteria as the dominant phylum and the important taxon Rhizobium leguminosarum in the lentil rhizosphere microbiome. At the class level, Gammaproteobacteria were the most dominant (64.23%), followed by Alphaproteobacteria (4.633%), Betaproteobacteria (2.042%), Deltaproteobacteria (1.691%), Epsilonproteobacteria (0.2565%), Actinobacteria (5.376%) and Rubrobacteria (0.2303%). Further studies will focus on metabolic pathways, nutrient cycle, stress tolerance and pathogen suppression. These microbial communities could improve crop quality and sustainability in a fluctuating climate.