背景回顾：Host genetics has recently been shown to be a driver of plant microbiome composition. 

提出问题：However, identifying the underlying genetic loci controlling microbial selection remains challenging.

研究方法：Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) represent a potentially powerful, unbiased method to identify microbes sensitive to the host genotype and to connect them with the genetic loci that influence their colonization. 

主要研究：Here, we conducted a population-level microbiome analysis of the rhizospheres of 200 sorghum genotypes.

结果1：Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we identify rhizosphere-associated bacteria exhibiting heritable associations with plant genotype, and identify significant overlap between these lineages and heritable taxa recently identified in maize. 

结果2：Furthermore, we demonstrate that GWAS can identify host loci that correlate with the abundance of specific subsets of the rhizosphere microbiome. 

结论：Finally, we demonstrate that these results can be used to predict rhizosphere microbiome structure for an independent panel of sorghum genotypes based solely on knowledge of host genotypic information.

 摘 要 

最近的研究显示寄主的遗传是植物微生物组成的驱动因素之一。然而，鉴定能够控制微生物选择的潜在基因位点仍然颇具挑战。全基因组关联分析（GWAS）是一种潜在强有力的、无偏方法，被用来鉴定对宿主基因型敏感的微生物，并将其与影响微生物定殖的宿主基因位点关联起来。本文中，作者对200个高粱基因型的根际进行了群体水平的微生物组学分析。利用16S rRNA扩增测序，作者鉴定了与植物基因型具有遗传相关性的根际相关细菌，并获得了本文中所鉴定的细菌谱系与最近在玉米中发现的可遗传类群之间的重叠。此外，作者还发现GWAS能够鉴定与根际微生物群特定亚群丰度相关的寄主基因位点。最后，作者认为本文的研究结果可以被用来预测根际微生物群落结构的一个独立小组的高粱基因型完全基于知识的寄主基因型信息。