Rhizosphere Bacteria Exhibit Narrower Environmental Adaptation in Proso Millet Than in Foxtail Millet and Sorghum in Agricultural Fields

It is of great ecological significance to understand how the assembly processes of soil microbe communities respond to environmental change. However, the assembly processes of the rhizosphere bacterial communities in three minor grain crops (i.e., foxtail millet, proso millet, and sorghum) across agro-ecosystems are rarely investigated. Here, we investigated the environmental thresholds and phylogenetic signals for ecological preferences of rhizosphere bacterial communities of three minor grain crop taxa across complex environmental gradients to reflect their environmental adaptation. Additionally, we reported environmental factors affecting their community assembly processes based on a large-scale soil survey in agricultural fields across northern China using high-throughput sequencing.. The results demonstrated a narrower range of environmental thresholds and weaker phylogenetic signals for the ecological traits of rhizosphere bacteria in proso millet than in foxtail millet and sorghum fields, while proso millet rhizosphere community was the most phylogenetically clustered. The null model analysis indicated that homogeneous selection belonging to deterministic processes governed the sorghum rhizosphere community, whereas dispersal limitation belonging to stochastic processes was the critical assembly process in the foxtail and proso millet. Mean annual temperature was the decisive factor for adjusting the balance between stochasticity and determinism of the foxtail millet, proso millet, and sorghum rhizosphere communities. A higher temperature resulted in stochasticity in the proso millet and sorghum communities. For the foxtail millet community, the deterministic assembly increased with an increase in temperature. These results contribute to the understanding of root-associated bacterial community assembly processes in agro-ecosystems on a large scale.

Phylogeography and Antioxidant Activity of Proso Millet (Panicum miliaceum L.)

Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) or broomcorn millet is among the most important food crops to be domesticated by humans; it is widely distributed in America, Europe, and Asia. In this study, we genotyped 578 accessions of P. miliaceum using 37 single-sequence repeat (SSR) markers, to study the genetic diversity and population structure of each accession. We also investigated total phenolic content (TPC) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and performed association analysis using SSR markers. The results showed that genetic diversity and genetic distance were related to geographic location and the fixation index (Fst). Population structure analysis divided the population into three subpopulations. Based on 3 subpopulations, the population is divided into six clusters in consideration of geographical distribution characteristics and agronomic traits. Based on the genetic diversity, population structure, pairwise Fst, and gene flow analyses, we described the topological structure of the six proso millet subpopulations, and the geographic distribution and migration of each cluster. Comparison of the published cluster (cluster 1) with unique germplasms in Japan and South Korea suggested Turkey as a possible secondary center of origin and domestication (cluster 3) for the cluster. We also discovered a cluster domesticated in Nepal (cluster 6) that is adapted to high-latitude and high-altitude cultivation conditions. Differences in phenotypic characteristics, such as TPC, were observed between the clusters. The association analysis showed that TPC was associated with SSR-31, which explained 7.1% of the total variance, respectively. The development of markers associated with TPC and SOD will provide breeders with new tools to improve the quality of proso millet through marker-assisted selection.