Fig. 2

Impact of domestication on soil management, plant phenotype, plant physiology, and rhizobacterial diversity. In this hypothetical schematic representation, the root morphology of the wild relative substantially differs from that of the modern counterpart. Readily available macronutrients and water associated with agricultural management led to shallower roots in the modern crop cultivars as compared to the roots of the wild relatives, which are rooting deeper with conspicuous lateral roots. Domesticated crop plants presumably also exude more “simple” sugars than their wild relatives. The impact of the domestication process on rhizobacterial community composition is reflected in a decrease in Bacteroidetes abundance on modern crop plants, while the abundances of the Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria are increased