• Fine roots, and their functional traits, influence associated rhizosphere microorganisms via root exudation and root litter quality. However, little information is known about their relationship with rhizosphere microbial taxa and functional guilds.
• We investigated the relationships of 11 fine root traits of 20 sub‐arctic tundra meadow plant species and soil microbial community composition, using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and high‐throughput sequencing. We primarily focused on the root economics spectrum, as it provides a useful framework to examine plant strategies by integrating the co‐ordination of belowground root traits along a resource acquisition–conservation trade‐off axis.
• We found that the chemical axis of the fine root economics spectrum was positively related to fungal to bacterial ratios, but negatively to Gram‐positive to Gram‐negative bacterial ratios. However, this spectrum was unrelated to the relative abundance of functional guilds of soil fungi. Nevertheless, the relative abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi was positively correlated to root carbon content, but negatively to the numbers of root forks per root length.
• Our results suggest that the fine root economics spectrum is important for predicting broader groups of soil microorganisms (i.e. fungi and bacteria), while individual root traits may be more important for predicting soil microbial taxa and functional guilds.

中文翻译：

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苔原植物物种的根性状与微生物关系

• 细根及其功能特征通过根分泌物和根凋落物质量影响相关的根际微生物。然而，关于它们与根际微生物类群和功能群的关系知之甚少。
• 我们利用磷脂脂肪酸 (PLFA) 和高通量测序研究了 20 种亚北极苔原草甸植物物种的 11 种细根性状与土壤微生物群落组成的关系。我们主要关注根系经济学谱，因为它通过沿着资源获取-保护权衡轴整合地下根系性状的协调，提供了一个有用的框架来检查植物策略。
• 我们发现细根经济学谱的化学轴与真菌与细菌的比率呈正相关，但与革兰氏阳性菌与革兰氏阴性菌的比率呈负相关。然而，该谱与土壤真菌功能群的相对丰度无关。然而，丛枝菌根真菌的相对丰度与根碳含量呈正相关，但与单位根长度的根分叉数量呈负相关。
• 我们的结果表明，细根经济学谱对于预测更广泛的土壤微生物群（即真菌和细菌）很重要，而个体根性状对于预测土壤微生物类群和功能群可能更重要。