Bacterial Community Is Affected by Locations and Time Rather Than Potato Varieties but Streptomyces spp. Are Related to Potato Varieties

Improved knowledge and a better understanding of the functions of bacterial communities are vital for effective crop disease management. This study was conducted to study a bacterial community’s relationship with the common scab in four different potato varieties (Dejima, DJ; Atlantic, DS; Seohong, SH; Haryeong, HY) at two different locations (Gangneung and Chuncheon) and spatial locations (rhizosphere and furrow) at two different times (preharvest and postharvest). In addition, metagenomic sequencing was performed by extracting genomic DNA from soil samples to observe the dominant bacterial microbes and disease severity of the common scab in all the tested varieties in spatial location and time. The results suggest that the most dominant bacterial phyla in all the soil samples were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Additionally, Streptomyces spp. were found to be more abundant in the susceptible variety (DJ) than in other varieties (DS, SH, and HY). Interestingly, bacterial communities were found to be more diverse across the two different geographical locations, spatial locations, and harvesting times, rather than the variety of potato, according to PCoA analysis. There were no interlinked changes in bacterial communities among the varieties. Moreover, the 14 most dominant bacterial genus correlation networks with Streptomyces spp. suggested that there was a significant positive and negative correlation to some extent. Alpha and beta diversity results clearly indicated that the possible reason for differences in bacterial communities might have been due to the different spatial locations, in comparison with varieties, which suggests that there was no significant correlation between bacterial community richness and diversity among the varieties.