Abstract
The phyllosphere of plants is inhabited by diverse microorganisms, however, the factors shaping their community composition are not fully elucidated. The plant cuticle represents the initial contact surface between microorganisms and the plant. We thus aimed to investigate whether mutations in the cuticular wax biosynthesis would affect the diversity of the phyllosphere microbiota. A set of four Arabidopsis thaliana eceriferum mutants (cer1, cer6, cer9, cer16) and their respective wild type (Landsberg erecta) were subjected to an outdoor growth period and analysed towards this purpose. The chemical distinctness of the mutant wax phenotypes was confirmed by gas chromatographic measurements. Next generation amplicon pyrosequencing of the bacterial communities showed distinct community patterns. This observation was supported by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis experiments. Microbial community analyses revealed bacterial phylotypes that were ubiquitously present on all plant lines (termed “core” community) while others were positively or negatively affected by the wax mutant phenotype (termed “plant line-specific“ community). We conclude from this study that plant cuticular wax composition can affect the community composition of phyllosphere bacteria.
Highlights
Ground plant surfaces are inhabited by diverse microbial communities, of which few bacterial phyla predominate in the plant phyllosphere [1,2]
Concluding remarks The present study shows that A. thaliana plant lines with altered cuticular lipid biosynthesis harbour distinct phyllosphere bacterial communities
Our findings are based on the analysis of four different cer mutant lines and the Landsberg erecta (Ler) wild type and are supported by two cultivation independent methodologies (DGGE, amplicon pyrosequencing)
Summary
Ground plant surfaces are inhabited by diverse microbial communities, of which few bacterial phyla predominate in the plant phyllosphere [1,2]. The phyllosphere microbial community has been reported to be plant species-specific [6,7,8]. Leaf properties, such as size, colour, mineral content, the presence of veins, stomata and surface appendages (including trichomes and hydathodes) have been hypothesized to affect microbial community composition [1,9]. Specific effects of plant cuticular wax constituents on plant leaf colonisation of pathogenic fungi were described [18,19,20]. Few studies have addressed the effects of cuticular waxes on phyllosphere bacteria It was shown by spray inoculation of maize glossy mutants that leaf surface waxes can affect bacterial leaf colonisation [21]. The influence of leaf surface waxes on bacterial colonisation under natural conditions has not been investigated
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