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High-throughput sequencing reveals higher relative plant pathogen abundance and reduced nitrifying bacteria in sterilized soil. By seven weeks, bacterial communities converge, while fungal communities remain distinct. Results suggest bacteria shape early beneficial conditions that enable robust fungal and seedling development.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/soil-microbiome-perturbation-impedes-growth-of-bouteloua-curtipendula-and-increases-relative-abundance-of-soil-microbial-pathogens/439946/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/soil-microbiome-perturbation-impedes-growth-of-bouteloua-curtipendula-and-increases-relative-abundance-of-soil-microbial-pathogens/439946.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Mimi","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-30","2026-09-29",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":26},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What was the main objective of the study?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"To determine how soil microbial communities affect germination and early growth of Bouteloua curtipendula, and to identify microbial shifts associated with different soil treatments.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How did sterilized soil affect Bouteloua curtipendula growth?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"Sterilized soil impaired emergence and growth compared with non-sterilized soil under greenhouse conditions.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What microbial changes were detected after soil sterilization?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"Sterilized soil increased the relative abundance of plant pathogens and decreased nitrifying bacteria; bacterial communities later became similar between treatments, while fungal communities stayed different after seven weeks.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},439946,1790765015,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":26,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},2336477974920,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","OPEN ACCESS  \nCitation: Hobbs A, Ochoa-Rojas D, Humphrey CE, Kyndt JA, Moore TC (2026) Soil microbiome perturbation impedes growth of Bouteloua curtipendula and increases relative abundance of soil microbial pathogens. PLoSOne 21(1): e0312218. [https://doi.org/10.1371/](https://doi.org/10.1371/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.1371/)[journal.pone.0312218](journal.pone.0312218)  \nEditor: Rajesh Singh Rathore, Florida A&M  \nUniversity: Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Received: October 3, 2024  \nAccepted: December 9, 2025  \nPublished: January 5, 2026  \nPeer Review History: PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process; therefore, we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles. The editorial history of this article is available here: [https://doi.org/10.1371/journal](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal). pone.0312218  \nCopyright: © 2026 Hobbs et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,  \nRESEARCH ARTICLE  \nSoil microbiome perturbation impedes growth of Bouteloua curtipendula and increases relative abundance of soil microbial pathogens  \nAlisiara Hobbs1, Daisy Ochoa-Rojas1, Christine E. Humphrey2, John A. Kyndt1*, Tyler C. Moore1*  \n1 Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, Bellevue University, Bellevue, Nebraska, United States of America, 2 Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America  \n* [jkyndt@bellevue.edu](jkyndt@bellevue.edu) (JAK); [tymoore@bellevue.edu](tymoore@bellevue.edu) (TCM)  \nAbstract  \nBouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama) is a valuable prairie grass for livestock forage, supporting food webs of herbivorous insects, reducing soil erosion, and limiting weed infiltration in urban grasslands. Efficient establishment of B. curtipendula in prairie restorations and urban plantings could drastically improve long-term functionality of the space. Soil microbial communities have been linked to plant germination, growth, and drought tolerance in many plant species, however little is known about the factors contributing to B. curtipendula germination and early growth. In this study, we used sterilized soil to examine the impact of soil microbes on B. curtipendula growth under greenhouse conditions. We found Bouteloua curtipendula emergence and growth to be impaired in sterilized soil compared to not-sterilized soil. Using high throughput sequencing of the soil, we found that B. curtipendula grown in sterilized soil induced a greater proportion of plant pathogens and fewer nitrifying bacteria as compared to when grown in not-sterilized soil. For example, there was a significantly higher proportion of Acidovorax, Cellvibrio, and Xanthomonas which are known to contain plant pathogens, while plant-growth promoting bacteria, like Rhodopseudomonas, were significantly higher in the not-sterile soil conditions. We found that soil sterilization and growth of B. curtipendula changed the relative abundance of metabolic subsystem genes in the soil, however, by seven weeks after seeding, B. curtipendula transformed the bacterial community of sterile soil such that it was indiscernible from not-sterile soil. In contrast, fungal communities in sterilized soil were still different from not-sterilized soil seven weeks post-seeding. It appears that the bacteria are involved in the initial establishment of beneficial conditions that set the stage for a robust fungal and plant seedling development.  \nPLOS One | [https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312218](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312218) January 5, 2026 1 / 23  \nwhich permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.  \nData availability statement: All of the WGS metagenomic and targeted fungal sequencing datasets were deposited into N","cbCaig49sKmmK5Bt","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaig49sKmmK5Bt","pdf",2231712,23,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Urban pocket prairies and biodiversity\n## Matrix planting and invasive species control","[{\"question\":\"What was the main objective of the study?\",\"answer\":\"To determine how soil microbial communities affect germination and early growth of Bouteloua curtipendula, and to identify microbial shifts associated with different soil treatments.\"},{\"question\":\"How did sterilized soil affect Bouteloua curtipendula growth?\",\"answer\":\"Sterilized soil impaired emergence and growth compared with non-sterilized soil under greenhouse conditions.\"},{\"question\":\"What microbial changes were detected after soil sterilization?\",\"answer\":\"Sterilized soil increased the relative abundance of plant pathogens and decreased nitrifying bacteria; bacterial communities later became similar between treatments, while fungal communities stayed different after seven weeks.\"}]","Soil microbiome perturbation impedes growth of Bouteloua curtipendula and increases relative abundance of soil microbial pathogens | PDF",1790690580,58]