The spermosphere is a significant constituent of the plant micro-ecosystem, with a distinct role in seed microbial ecology, although it is relatively unexplored. Understanding maize spermosphere microbes is essential for optimizing agricultural practices and enhancing crop productivity. A field study was conducted to investigate the diversity of bacterial communities inhabiting bulk soils and spermosphere soils associated with maize crop using 16S rRNA V3–V4 amplicon sequencing. Overall, 1391 OTUs were identified and classified into 32 phyla, 77 classes, 167 orders, 337 families, 752 genera. Spermosphere shared phylum level features with the bulk soil, such as predominance of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Cyanobacteria, Acidobacteria and Nitrospirae. At the genus level, Desulfallas, Chryseolinea, Stenotrophomonas and Niveispirillum shows significantly higher abundances in spermosphere, while Synechococcus, Corynebacterium, and unclassified Clostridiales exhibit notable decreases. Functional prediction revealed 334 KEGG pathways and 6759 orthologs. Spermosphere soils showed higher organic carbon, microbial biomass and respiration than bulk soils, confirming their role as microbial hotspots and potential bioinoculant niches. Ammonia oxidation genes dominated in the spermosphere, whereas nitrate reduction and assimilation genes prevailed in bulk soil. The spermosphere exhibited greater microbial diversity and distinct taxonomic profiles, indicating differences from bulk soil. This preliminary study shows that germinating maize seed had developed a unique microbiome which indicates the importance of considering the spermosphere for developing new bioinoculants based on microbiome studies for sustainable agricultural practices.
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