Application of Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis to the Characterization of Microbial Communities in Rhizospheric Soils of the Bt Transgenic Chrysanthemum

Abstract

In the present study, we examined the feasibility of using a simplified ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (RISA) technique to investigate the impact of chrysanthemum genotypes, including Bt transgenic lines, the control parental line and a wild species, on microbial communities in their rhizospheric soils. Differential bands among the plant genotypes were identified from RISA profiles. Sequence data revealed that some bands showed high levels of similarity to known species, such as a fungal group of Exidiopsis and Exidia and a protozoan, Tetrahymena tropicalis. None, however, shared homology to either pathogenic or beneficial microbes that have previously been identified in association with both animals and plants.