Fig. 6

Functional analysis of a simplified Trifolium root microbiota in microcosms. a Trifolium growth in microcosms in the absence of inoculated bacteria (nbc no-bacteria control), with specific strains (F Flavobacterium KHB002, J Janthinobacterium KHB023, M Microbacterium strain KHB073, P Pseudomonas KHB004) or the simplified community (FJMP). The graph reports the mean shoot fresh weight (n = 12; ± s.e.m.) and the individual data points from the three independent experiments with four replicates each. The letters indicate statistical significance at P < 0.05 (Tukey’s HSD; analysis over the three experiments). Note, the Microbacterium (M, panel a) was not captured with the community quantification method. b Community composition of the simplified community (FJMP) at inoculation (input) and after 25 days on the roots. Sequences of other OTUs are indicated in gray