ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
This article is part of the Research TopicOlive Science - Volume IIView all 3 articles
Management affects the diversity and functions of root and leaf-associated microbiomesphyllosphere and rhizosphere: implications for olive resilience
Provisionally accepted
Gina Gizzi
Emanuele Fosso
Maria Tartaglia
Antonello Prigioniero
Maria Antonietta Ranauda
Maria Maisto
Monica Labella-Ortega
Daniela Zuzolo*
CARMINE GUARINO- Department of Sciences and Technologies, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
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This study explores the impact of organic, conventional, and traditional agricultural management on the rhizosphere and phyllosphereaboveground and belowground microbiomes of Olea europaea L. cv. Ortice, a cultivar widely cultivated in southern Italy's agricultural landscape. Through metabarcoding analyses (16S rRNA and ITS), we assessed the influence of farming approaches on the microbiome traits of the olive holobiont. Our findings demonstrate that agricultural management practices significantly shape microbiome composition both aboveground and belowground. The conventional management was associated with the highest number of microbial biomarkers for phyllosphereaboveground, mainly belonging to Rhizobiaceae and Rhodocyclaceae families. Instead, Fusarium (family Nectriaceae) was the most abundant taxon under organic treatment. Regarding rhizosphereroot-associated microbiome, organic management supported a greater number of microbial biomarkers, including the bacterial genera Actinophytocola and Streptomyces, both known for their roles in promoting plant health and protecting against pathogens. In traditional systems, biomarkers included taxa from the order Burkholderiales and the species Nocardioides islandensis. Functional analysis of the phyllosphere aboveground fungal community revealed a higher capacity for endophytic interactions in traditional management, predominantly involving known pathogenic species such as Alternaria alternata, Aureobasidium spp., and Cladosporium spp. Similarly, in the rhizosphere, traditional management was associated with significant enrichment of phototrophic functions belowground, mainly attributed to the bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris. Conversely, the potential for endophytic interactions was significantly greater under conventional management and was primarily linked to fungi within the class Sordariomycetes. Management practices shape distinct microbial communities in the rhizosphere and phyllosphereboth aboveground and belowground of olive groves, potentially influencing the resilience of Mediterranean agroecosystems and underscoring the importance of sustainable strategies.
Keywords: agricultural management, Olive microbiome, olive rhizosphereroot-associated microbiome, phyllosphere, phyllosphere microbiomesleaf-associated microbiome, rhizosphere, Rhizosphere microbiomes
Received: 05 Sep 2025; Accepted: 15 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gizzi, Fosso, Tartaglia, Prigioniero, Ranauda, Maisto, Labella-Ortega, Zuzolo and GUARINO. 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: Daniela Zuzolo
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