In recent years, interest in endophytic microorganisms has increased, as they play a
key role in agricultural environments and are promising because of their potential
use in sustainable agriculture. These microorganisms include both commensal
species, which have no direct effect on the host plant, and mutualistic symbionts,
which could be used in the biological control of pathogens or plant growth
promotion. In the present study we investigated how microbial communities in
plants from organically managed farms differ from those obtained from integrated
pest management (IPM) farms. Microbial DNA isolated from grapevines (Vitis
vinifera L.) cv Merlot and Chardonnay cultivated in a subalpine area in Northern
Italy was PCR amplified to fingerprint endophytic communities, and to assess the
distribution of important functional genes in the grapevine microbiome in the
studied areas.
Here we report the composition of endophytic microbial communities assessed
through a cultivation independent approach: Automated Ribosomal Intergenic
Spacer Analysis (ARISA). The changes in community structure and composition are
interpreted in the light of the environmental variables considered. Fingerprinting
results were validated by multivariate analysis. Other metagenomics approaches are
being considered
