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Cyanobiont diversity in six Azolla spp. and relation to Azolla-nutrient profiling

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Main conclusion

Illumina-Miseq®-based cyanobiont diversity and biomass were analyzed in six Azolla spp. Results revealed that 93–98% of total operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belong to Nostacaceae followed by Cylindrospermopsis with about 1–6% OTUs.

The taxonomy of Azolla-cyanobiont is a long-term debate within the scientific community. Morphological and biochemical-based reports indicated the presence of Anabaena, Nostoc and/or Trichormus azollae as abundant Azolla-cyanobionts, however, molecular data did not support the abundance of Anabaena and/or Nostoc. To understand furthermore, the cyanobiont diversity in six species of Azolla (A. microphylla, A. mexicana, A. filiculoides, A. caroliniana, A. pinnata and A. rubra) was analyzed based on 16S rRNA Illumina-MiSeq sequencing. Additionally, biomass and nutrient profiling of Azolla spp. were analyzed and correlated with cyanobiont diversity. Illumina-MiSeq data revealed that 99.6–99.9% of total operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonged to Nostocophycideae (class), Nostocales (order) and Nostacaceae (family). At genus level, the unassigned affiliation (93.4–97.9%) under Nostacaceae family was abundant followed by Cylindrospermopsis OTUs (1.1–6.0%). Interestingly, A. pinnata harboured maximum Cylindrospermopsis OTUs and also recorded higher biomass (40.67 g m−2 day−1), whereas crude protein (25.9%) and antioxidants (76.9%) were recorded to be higher in A. microphylla. Biplot analysis revealed that A. pinnata and its cyanobiont abundance were positively correlated with neutral and acid detergent fibers. Overall, the present findings deepened the understanding about cyanobiont in Azolla and its relations with Azolla nutrient profiling.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the erstwhile researchers associated with Azolla and cyanobacteria germplasm maintenance work at the ICAR-National Rice Research Institute (NRRI), Cuttack. We gratefully acknowledge the help extended by Dr. R. K. Mahanta, Scientist, KVK, Santhapur, Odisha, India for nutrient profiling of Azolla. Director, NRRI is highly acknowledged for providing the necessary facilities to carry out this research.

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  1. ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, 753006, India

    Upendra Kumar, Amaresh K. Nayak, Periasamy Panneerselvam, Anjani Kumar, Sangita Mohanty, Mohammad Shahid, Archana Sahoo, Megha Kaviraj, Himani Priya, Nitiprasad N. Jambhulkar, Pradeep K. Dash, S. D. Mohapatra & Prafulla K. Nayak

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  1. Upendra Kumar
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Kumar, U., Nayak, A.K., Panneerselvam, P. et al. Cyanobiont diversity in six Azolla spp. and relation to Azolla-nutrient profiling. Planta 249, 1435–1447 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-019-03093-7

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