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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.

Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1334648

Heat Stress and Soil Thermal Gradients Shape Root-Associated Fungal Community Recruitment

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics, National Institute of Agricultural and Food Research and Technology, Madrid, Spain
  • 2Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas (UPM-INIA/CSIC), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain
  • 3Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnologı́a Agraria y Alimentaria-CSIC (INIA/CSIC), Campus Montegancedo, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain
  • 4Departamento de Biotecnología-Biología Vegetal, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Alimentaria y de Biosistemas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Climate change is increasing the overall temperature of the planet and increasing the number of extreme heat waves events. These phenomena are negatively affecting crop production and food security. Thus, under this scenario, understanding the adaptations that encompass the plant response to high temperature will be essential to enhance crop tolerance and yield. Plant responses to elevated temperature rely on both genetic factors and the dynamic interplay with the surrounding microbiota. Recently, the role of root microbiota as a key player in the plant's response to heat, is gaining significant relevance. This work presents the analysis of fungal microbiota from the rhizosphere and the root-associated fractions of tomato roots in response to high temperature. Although the analyses were done in an enclosed environment, we used the TGRooZ (Temperature Gradient Root Zone) system to mimic field conditions. The TGRooZ generates a temperature gradient like the natural soil during a heat wave event. We found that distinct soil/root compartments assemble a different fungal community, with the rhizosphere fraction exhibiting greater diversity and abundance, while the rootassociated fraction was enriched in fewer but more specialized taxa. Notably, the experimental conditions used to analyze heat responses significantly influenced the final microbiome composition. Our data suggest that the TGRooZ system will enable more accurate analysis of plant-microbiome responses to heat stress and help evaluate the potential of beneficial microbes to enhance crop productivity under near-natural conditions.

Keywords: abiotic stress, fungal community, temperature, Solanum lycopersicum, Metagenomics, root, Climate Change

Received: 07 Nov 2023; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Catarecha, King, Díaz-González, CARO, Sacristán and Del Pozo Benito. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Juan Carlos Del Pozo Benito, Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics, National Institute of Agricultural and Food Research and Technology, Madrid, Spain

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