Heterogeneity of the rice microbial community of the Chinese centuries‐old Honghe Hani rice terraces system

A highly diverse microbial community is associated with the centuries-old Honghe Hani rice terraces system (HHRTS), where traditional landraces and introduced modern rice varieties exhibit distinct microbial compositions. Despite recent introductions of modern rice, which have exacerbated disease severity, the overall diversity of the HHRTS rice microbial community remains robust. Rice variety-specific genotypes significantly structure microbial community composition, accounting for 15%-22% of the variance, while the core microbial community represents less than 3.3% of all identified taxa. This suggests a mirroring of host and microbial diversity, though further research is needed to assess long-term sustainability impacts.

Alonso, P., Blondin, L., Gladieux, P., Mahé, F., Sanguin, H., Ferdinand, R., Filloux, D., Desmarais, E., Cerqueira, F., Jin, B., Huang, H., He, X., Morel, J.-B., Martin, D. P., Roumagnac, P., & Vernière, C. (2020). Heterogeneity of the rice microbial community of the Chinese centuries‐old Honghe Hani rice terraces system. Environmental Microbiology, 22(8), 3429–3445. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15114