The Genetic Architecture of Adaptation to Leaf and Root Bacterial Microbiota in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

Understanding the role of the host genome in modulating microbiota variation is a need to shed light on the holobiont theory and overcome the current limits on the description of host-microbiota interactions at the genomic and molecular levels. However, the host genetic architecture structuring microbiota is only partly described in plants. In addition, most association genetic studies on microbiota are often carried out outside the native habitats where the host evolves and the identification of signatures of local adaptation on the candidate genes has been overlooked. To fill these gaps and dissect the genetic architecture driving adaptive plant-microbiota interactions, we adopted a genome-environment association (GEA) analysis on 141 whole-genome sequenced natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana characterized in situ for their leaf and root bacterial communities in fall and spring, and a large range of nonmicrobial ecological factors (i.e., climate, soil, and plant communities). A much higher fraction of among-population microbiota variance was explained by the host genetics than by nonmicrobial ecological factors. Importantly, the relative importance of host genetics and nonmicrobial ecological factors in explaining the presence of particular operational taxonomic units (OTUs) differs between bacterial families and genera. In addition, the polygenic architecture of adaptation to bacterial communities was highly flexible between plant compartments and seasons. Relatedly, signatures of local adaptation were stronger on quantitative trait loci (QTLs) of the root microbiota in spring. Finally, plant immunity appears as a major source of adaptive genetic variation structuring bacterial assemblages in A. thaliana.

Keywords: community ecology; genome-environment association; local adaptation; pathogens; plant-microbiota interactions.