Arabidopsis multi-SynCom root colonization experiment
To study root microbiome assembly, plant-microbe interactions, and microbe-microbe interactions, seven SynComs with 200 members each were inoculated onto Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 in a gnotobiotic flowpot experimental set-up. These SynComs were designed using strains of the 447 Arabidopsis thaliana culture collection (PRJNA1139421 &amp; PRJNA1138681). 1,000 SynComs were designed by randomly selecting 200 SynCom strains from this pool, and ordering these on functional diversity (highest count of unique KOs to lowest). From the top50, seven SynComs were randomly picked to be inoculated onto Arabidopsis thaliana. Dataset consist of the input inocula, Arabidopsis root samples inoculated with the SynComs, and gnotobiotically-grown Arabidopsis root samples without any SynCom (CK). SynCom inoculation experiments were conducted over four rounds: 1) SynCom2 &amp; CK2, 2) SynCom1 &amp; SynCom5 &amp; CK15, 3) SynCom3 &amp; SynCom4 &amp; CK34, and 4) SynCom6 &amp; SynCom7 &amp; CK67. The exact SynCom members of each SynCom can be found in the manuscript: Functional capacities drive recruitment of bacteria into plant root microbiota.