Digging for meaningful connections: associations between root phenotypes and rhizosphere microbial diversity in maize

We investigated the association between root anatomical and architectural phenotypes and rhizosphere prokaryotic and fungal diversity in 22 maize inbred lines grown under drought and optimal water availability in the field.

These datasets report the plant performance data (i.e., shoot biomass, vigor and grain yield) for the genotypes used under the two treatments. Moreover, root architectural (number of whorls and nodal roots, lateral root branching density, root diameter and angle) and anatomical (root cross-section, cortical and stele areas, the ratios between them, living cortical and aerenchyma areas, number of metaxylem vessels and cell files) phenotypes used in this study are reported as well for each sample. Bulk soil phisiochemical properties (e.i., pH, gravimetric water content, total nitrogen and carbon content, mineral nitrogen content, cation exchange capacity and total macro- and micronutrient content) are provided in replicates for each field and treatment.

We also provided two R scripts: one used to run analyses for plant yield, root phenotypes and bulk soil properties; the other one for microbiomes and their links with plant yield, root phenotypes and bulk soil properties.