Microbial and functional diversity of Cyclopia intermedia rhizosphere microbiome revealed by analysis of shotgun metagenomics sequence data

Cyclopia spp., commonly referred to as honeybush due to the honey scented flowers, are indigenous legumes mainly growing in the Cape Floristic Region of the Western Cape, South Africa. Dozens of species, including Cyclopia intermedia, C. subternata, C. plicata, C. genistoides are used to make the well-known, popular and widely enjoyed beverage called ‘honeybush tea’. In the past, most rhizosphere microbial studies associated with Cyclopia spp. focused mainly on the taxonomy and diversity of the root nodule associated symbiotic nitrogen fixing rhizobia. The work presented here is the first report on the microbial and functional diversity of rhizosphere microbiome associated with Cyclopia intermedia. Metagenomic shotgun sequencing was performed on the rhizosphere soil sample collected from this Cyclopia sp. using illumina Hiseq 2500 platform which resulted in an α- diversity of 312 species. Analysis of the metagenome sequence using the Metagenomic analysis server (MG-RAST) indicated that bacteria constitute the dominant domain followed by Eukaryota, Archaea and other sequences derived from fungi and viruses. Functional diversity of the metagenome based on analysis using the Cluster Orthologous Group (COG) method showed metabolism as the most important function in the community. The raw sequence data is uploaded in FASTQ format on MG-RAST server with ID mgm4855911.3 which can be accessed at http://www.mg-rast.org/linkin.cgi?project=mgp90368. The data on the microbial and functional diversity of the rhizosphere community of Cyclopia intermedia generates a baseline information about the microbial ecology of this indigenous legume. The microbial profile data can also be used as indicators of soil health characteristic of the rhizosphere of this important legume.