Characterizing and exploring variation in the bacterial and fungal tare soil microbiome of the seed potato

This study seeks to characterize the microbiome of tare soils on seed potato tubers and explore variability in microbial community composition related to different seed lot sources. Overall, we used ITS and 16S metabarcoding to characterize the microbial communities present in 130 tare soils of commercially produced seed potatoes used for potato production in Oregon. The project is a step towards understanding the potato microbiome and factors which influence it, with the goal of enhancing our knowledge of plant-microbial relationships to eventually inform management decisions to promote healthy crops