Evaluating the legacy of drought exposure on root and rhizosphere bacterial microbiomes over two plant generations
Abstract
Drought is a critical risk in developing countries for staple crops like common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.). We conducted an experiment to understand the legacy effects of repeated drought exposure across plant generations on the root and rhizosphere microbiome of the common bean, hypothesizing that a legacy of exposure improves overall plant microbiome resilience. We profiled the bacterial microbiome using marker gene amplicon sequencing over two plant generations in a complete factorial design for two common bean genotypes, Red Hawk and Flavert. We performed parallel experiments for Red Hawk in two different countries using soils of Pays de la Loire, France, and Michigan, USA. Despite the clear and relatively consistent drought effects on the plant phenotypes, there was neither response of the Red Hawk microbiomes to drought, nor a notable legacy of drought exposure. For Flavert, there was a minor legacy drought effect for the second generation in the rhizosphere microbiome beta diversity. This study demonstrates that rhizosphere microbiomes can be resistant to drought stress and that cross-generational legacy depends on soil origin and host genotype. Such parallel experiments across countries, while difficult to implement, are useful to inform generalities and build theory towards prediction on microbiome responses to global change.
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BibTeX
@article{bintarti2026evaluating,
title = {{Evaluating the legacy of drought exposure on root and rhizosphere bacterial microbiomes over two plant generations}},
author = {A. Fina Bintarti and Abby Sulesky-Grieb and Joanna Colovas and Brice Marolleau and Tristan Boureau and Marie Simonin and Matthieu Barret and Ashley Shade},
journal = {Microbiology Spectrum},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1128/spectrum.03019-25},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05290191v2},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Evaluating the legacy of drought exposure on root and rhizosphere bacterial microbiomes over two plant generations
AU - A. Fina Bintarti
AU - Abby Sulesky-Grieb
AU - Joanna Colovas
AU - Brice Marolleau
AU - Tristan Boureau
AU - Marie Simonin
AU - Matthieu Barret
AU - Ashley Shade
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Microbiology Spectrum
DO - 10.1128/spectrum.03019-25
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05290191v2
AB - Drought is a critical risk in developing countries for staple crops like common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.). We conducted an experiment to understand the legacy effects of repeated drought exposure across plant generations on the root and rhizosphere microbiome of the common bean, hypothesizing that a legacy of exposure improves overall plant microbiome resilience. We profiled the bacterial microbiome using marker gene amplicon sequencing over two plant generations in a complete factorial design for two common bean genotypes, Red Hawk and Flavert. We performed parallel experiments for Red Hawk in two different countries using soils of Pays de la Loire, France, and Michigan, USA. Despite the clear and relatively consistent drought effects on the plant phenotypes, there was neither response of the Red Hawk microbiomes to drought, nor a notable legacy of drought exposure. For Flavert, there was a minor legacy drought effect for the second generation in the rhizosphere microbiome beta diversity. This study demonstrates that rhizosphere microbiomes can be resistant to drought stress and that cross-generational legacy depends on soil origin and host genotype. Such parallel experiments across countries, while difficult to implement, are useful to inform generalities and build theory towards prediction on microbiome responses to global change.
SN - 2165-0497
ER -