Abstract
Root exudates influence the surrounding soil microbial community. Recent evidence shows the involvement of ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters in root secretion of phytochemicals. In this study, we analyzed the effects of ABC transporter mutants of Arabidopsis on the microbial community in their native soils. After two generations, we observed by using automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis that the abcg30 (pdr2) mutant significantly altered the soil microbial communities compared with the wild type. The profile of root exudates of abcg30 significantly differed from those of the wild type. Microbial taxa in soils were determined by pyrosequencing, and revealed that abcg30 mutant cultivated a microbial community with a relatively greater abundance of potentially beneficial bacteria and enriched in bacteria involved in heavy metal remediation. Whole genome expression analyses of abcg30 roots revealed that some genes involved in biosynthesis and transport of secondary metabolites were up-regulated while some sugar transporters were down-regulated in roots. Some transporter and transcription factor genes were further analyzed in RT-PCR. (Badri et al. 2009 Plant Physiol)
