Physical and chemical properties of soil samples collected from the rhizospheres of three <i>B</i>. <i>sacra</i> populations.

<p>Physical and chemical properties of soil samples collected from the rhizospheres of three <i>B</i>. <i>sacra</i> populations.</p

Distribution of fungal and bacterial communities operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and Chao-1 of each replica from data generated through MiSeq sequencing (16S and ITS) of the rhizospheric samples from wild and cultivated rhizosphere of <i>B</i>. <i>sacra</i> tree.

<p>Distribution of fungal and bacterial communities operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and Chao-1 of each replica from data generated through MiSeq sequencing (16S and ITS) of the rhizospheric samples from wild and cultivated rhizosphere of <i>B</i>. <i>sacra</i> tree.</p

Relative abundances and shared core OTUs of fungal phyla and genus found in the rhizosphere of wild and cultivated populations of <i>B</i>. <i>sacra</i> tree.

<p>Taxa with abundance < 5% are presented as “Others/Unidentified”.</p

Summary of complete chloroplast genomes for Khanezi and Naghal.

<p>Summary of complete chloroplast genomes for Khanezi and Naghal.</p

Alignment visualization of the <i>P</i>. <i>dactylifera</i> var Khanezi and Naghal chloroplast genome sequences.

<p>VISTA-based identity plot showing sequence identity among the four-species using <i>P</i>. <i>dactylifera</i> var Khalas as a reference. The vertical scale indicates percent identity, ranging from 50% to 100%. The horizontal axis indicates the coordinates within the chloroplast genome. Arrows indicate the annotated genes and their transcription direction. The thick black lines show the inverted repeats (IRs).</p

Analysis of repeated sequences in <i>P</i>. <i>dactylifera</i> var Khanezi and Naghal cp genomes.

<p>A: Totals of three repeat types; B: Frequency of palindromic repeats by length; C: Frequency of forward repeats by length; D: Frequency of tandem repeats by length.</p

Physical and chemical properties of soil samples collected from the rhizospheres of three <i>B</i>. <i>sacra</i> populations.

<p>Physical and chemical properties of soil samples collected from the rhizospheres of three <i>B</i>. <i>sacra</i> populations.</p

Exozymes (glucosidases and cellulases) and indole acetic acid quantification in rhizosphere of wild and cultivated populations of <i>B</i>. <i>sacra</i> tree.

<p>Exozymes (glucosidases and cellulases) and indole acetic acid quantification in rhizosphere of wild and cultivated populations of <i>B</i>. <i>sacra</i> tree.</p

Base compositions in the Khanezi and Naghal cp genome.

<p>Base compositions in the Khanezi and Naghal cp genome.</p

Rhizospheric microbial communities associated with wild and cultivated frankincense producing <i>Boswellia sacra</i> tree

<div><p><i>Boswellia sacra</i>, a frankincense producing endemic tree, has been well known for its cultural, religious and economic values. However, the tree has been least explored for the associated microsymbiota in the rhizosphere. The current study elucidates the fungal and bacterial communities of the rhizospheric regions of the wild and cultivated <i>B</i>. <i>sacra</i> tree populations through next generation sequencing. The sequence analysis showed the existence of 1006±8.9 and 60.6±3.1 operational taxonomic unit (OTUs) for bacterial and fungal communities respectively. In fungal communities, five major phyla were found with significantly higher abundance of <i>Ascomycota</i> (60.3%) in wild population and <i>Basidiomycota</i> (52%) in cultivated tree rhizospheres. Among bacterial communities, 31 major phyla were found, with significant distribution of <i>Actinobacteria</i> in wild tree rhizospheres, whereas <i>Proteobacteria</i> and <i>Acidobacteria</i> were highly abundant in cultivated trees. The diversity and abundance of microbiome varied significantly depending upon soil characteristics of the three different populations. In addition, significantly higher glucosidases, cellulases and indole-3-acetic acid were found in cultivated tree’s rhizospheres as compared to wild tree populations. for these plants to survive the harsh arid-land environmental conditions. The current study is a first comprehensive work and advances our knowledge about the core fungal and bacterial microbial microbiome associated with this economically important tree.</p></div