Yerba mate rhizosphere
This study investigates the rhizosphere bacterial community associated with yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil.) clones with contrasting rooting capacities using 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding. Yerba mate is an economically and ecologically important forest species in South America, but its clonal propagation via mini-cuttings is limited by low adventitious rooting rates. In addition to culture-dependent isolation of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), culture-independent metabarcoding was performed to characterize bacterial diversity.