Recovery of metagenome-assembled genomes from Spartina alterniflora root microbiome in Fujian Province, China

Abstract The saltmarsh cordgrass Spartina alterniflora proliferates along the coast of China. Like all plants, S. alterniflora hosts a specific microbiome that plays crucial roles in sustaining plant growth and health. Till now, very few studies have investigated the root microbiome of S. alterniflora in China, where it is considered an invasive pest. Here, ~350 Gbp metagenomes of S. alterniflora were generated from 8 sampling sites in South Fujian Province, China. 798 bacterial metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) and 7 archaeal MAGs were obtained, which were de-replicated into 205 and 3 representative genomes at a 95% ANI cutoff. The recovered bacterial MAGs mainly belonged to Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidia and Campylobacterota. Sedimenticolaceae were prevalent at all sampling sites, accounting for 4–30% of the corresponding MAGs. These genomic datasets provide a new resource for investigating S. alterniflora root microbiomes, particularly valuable considering current efforts to eradicate this species in China.