Abstract
Bacterial communities associated with aquatic macrophytes largely influence host primary production and nutrient cycling in freshwater environments; however, little is known about how specific bacteria migrate to and proliferate at this unique habitat. Here, we separately identified bacterial genes involved in the initial colonization and overall fitness on plant surface, using the genome-wide transposon sequencing (Tn-seq) of Aquitalea magnusonii H3, a plant growth-promoting bacterium of the floating macrophyte, duckweed. Functional annotation of identified genes indicated that initial colonization efficiency might be simply explained by motility and cell surface structure, while overall fitness was associated with diverse metabolic and regulatory functions. Genes involved in lipopolysaccharides and type-IV pili biosynthesis showed different contributions to colonization and fitness, reflecting their metabolic cost and profound roles in host association. These results provide a comprehensive genetic perspective on aquatic-plant-bacterial interactions, and highlight the potential trade-off between bacterial colonization and proliferation abilities on plant surface.
Highlights
Bacterial communities associated with aquatic macrophytes largely influence host primary production and nutrient cycling in freshwater environments; little is known about how specific bacteria migrate to and proliferate at this unique habitat
To screen bacterial genes involved in the establishment of aquaticplant-bacterial interactions, we performed transposon sequencing (Tn-seq) using A. magnusonii H3, a plant growth-promoting bacterium of duckweed Lemna minor
In this study, we reported the genome-wide identification of A. magnusonii H3 genes that contribute to its association with duckweed, L. minor
Summary
Bacterial communities associated with aquatic macrophytes largely influence host primary production and nutrient cycling in freshwater environments; little is known about how specific bacteria migrate to and proliferate at this unique habitat. Genes involved in lipopolysaccharides and typeIV pili biosynthesis showed different contributions to colonization and fitness, reflecting their metabolic cost and profound roles in host association These results provide a comprehensive genetic perspective on aquatic-plant-bacterial interactions, and highlight the potential tradeoff between bacterial colonization and proliferation abilities on plant surface. 1234567890():,; Macrophytes are key players in primary production and nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems, in which they interact with specific bacterial communities assembled from surrounding water environments[1,2,3,4] The roles of these bacteria have long been emphasized in phytoremediation systems, in which bacterial denitrification and organic degradation account for a large part of water treatment performance[5,6,7]. Improving the current understanding of these aspects will provide useful insights into the adaptive strategies of plant-associated bacteria, while potentially improving the delivery and survivability of beneficial bacteria to plant surfaces
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