Baseline microbiota of blueberries, soil, and irrigation water from blueberry farms located in three geographical regions

Bacterial microbiota was determined in fruit, soil, and irrigation water from blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) farms located in Cundinamarca, Colombia; Mississippi, United States; and Jalisco, Mexico. Bacterial communities were studied using 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene amplification by targeting the V3–V4 hypervariable region. The most abundant phylum in fruit was Proteobacteria in Colombia and the United States and Firmicutes in Mexico. The most abundant phylum in soil and water was Proteobacteria for all regions. The top three genera found in fruit were Heliorestis (9.2 %), Rhodanobacter (3.3 %), and Sphingomonas (2.8 %) for Colombia, Heliorestis (23.1 %), Thiomonas (8.5 %), and Methylobacterium (3.3 %) for the United States, and Heliorestis (47.4 %), Thiomonas (9.1 %), and Bacillus (4.6 %) for Mexico. Colombia reported the highest (Padj < 0.05) alpha diversity for blueberries, and United States and Mexico had similar (Padj > 0.05) results. Beta diversity revealed bacterial communities in fruit differed (P