Plant physiological and metabolic processes are modulated by rhythmic gene expression in a large part. Meanwhile, plants are also regulated by rhizosphere microorganisms, which are fed by root exudates and provide beneficial functions to their plant host. Whether the biorhythms in plants would transfer to the rhizosphere microbial community is still uncertain and their intricate connection remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the role of the Arabidopsis circadian clock in shaping the rhizosphere microbial community using wild-type plants and clock mutants (cca1-1 and toc1-101) with transcriptomic, metabolomic and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis throughout a 24-h period. Deficiencies of the central circadian clock led to abnormal diurnal rhythms for thousands of expressed genes and dozens of root exudates. The bacterial community failed to follow obvious patterns in the 24-h period, and there was lack of coordination with plant growth in the clock mutants. Our results suggest that the robust rhythmicity of genes and root exudation due to circadian clock in plants is an important driving force for the positive succession of rhizosphere communities, which will feedback on plant development.

中文翻译：

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生物节律会从植物传递到根际微生物吗？

植物生理和代谢过程在很大程度上受节律性基因表达的调节。同时，植物也受到根际微生物的调节，根际微生物以根系分泌物为食，为其植物宿主提供有益功能。植物中的生物节律是否会转移到根际微生物群落仍然不确定，它们之间错综复杂的联系仍然知之甚少。在这里，我们使用野生型植物和时钟突变体（ cca1-1和toc1-101）研究了拟南芥生物钟在塑造根际微生物群落中的作用。) 在 24 小时内进行转录组学、代谢组学和 16S rRNA 基因测序分析。中央生物钟的缺陷导致数千个表达基因和数十种根系分泌物的昼夜节律异常。细菌群落在 24 小时内未能遵循明显的模式，并且时钟突变体中缺乏与植物生长的协调。我们的研究结果表明，由于植物的生物钟，基因的强烈节律性和根系分泌是根际群落正演替的重要驱动力，将对植物发育产生反馈。