Abstract
The cultivars of Sukkari and Khalas are known for their economic value in Saudi Arabia. However, the rhizosphere microbial community associated with the two cultivars has never been analyzed. This study aims to identify the possible microbial community and associated environment enzymatic activity with the two dates palm cultivars' rhizosphere and analyze it using metagenomics. The results showed a distinct microbial community in each of the two cultivars. Khalas cultivar rhizosphere was associated with 86% of the sequences identified as bacteria compared to 62% of bacterial sequence associated with Sukkari cultivar rhizosphere. On the other hand, 25% of the Sukkari rhizosphere was associated with eukaryotes sequences. The functional Enzyme analysis identified common environmental metabolic pathways between date palm cultivars related to carbon fixation, carbohydrates, and amino acids. The environmental metabolic pathways related to degradation were only identified in the Sukkari cultivar rhizosphere. These findings might indicate distinguished microorganisms associated with each date palm cultivar rhizosphere and might be exploited to enhance soil health and agricultural practices.