Plant G x Microbial E: Plant genotype interaction with soil bacterial community shapes rhizosphere composition during invasion

It is increasingly recognized that different genetic variants can uniquely shape their microbiomes. Invasive species often evolve in their introduced ranges, but little is known about the potential for microbial associations to evolve during invasion as a result. We investigated invader genotype (G) and microbial environment (E) interactions in C. solstitialis (yellow starthistle), a Eurasian plant that is known to have evolved novel genotypes, and to have altered microbial interactions, in its severe invasion of California, USA. We conducted an experiment in which native and invading genotypes were inoculated with native and invaded range soil microbial communities. We used amplicon sequencing to characterize rhizosphere bacteria in both the experiment and the field soils from which they were derived. We found that bacterial diversity is higher in invaded soils, but that invading genotypes accumulated a lower diversity of bacteria and unique microbial composition in experimental inoculations, relative to native genotypes. Associations with potentially beneficial Streptomycetaceae were particularly interesting, as these were more abundant in the invaded range and accumulated on invading genotypes. Thus variation in microbial associations of invaders was driven by the interaction of G and E, and microbial communities appear to change in composition along with host evolution during invasion.