Plants change their soil environment by exudation of
compounds that affect the root-associated microbial community,
which can, in turn, feedback to affect plant performance and
phenotypes in a process known as plant-soil feedback. In a
greenhouse experiment involving seven plant genotypes, we
tested for soil domestication, a form of plant-soil feedback in
which successive generations of maize cultivation alters soil
microbial diversity in ways that limit beneficial plant-microbe
interactions. While we found evidence of soil domestication for
maize genotype B73 and teosinte, we did not find it for
Andropogon gerardii, the dominant prairie grass in Nebraska,
suggesting that soil domestication may affect crop productivity