Abstract
Background: The phyllosphere hosts a variety of microorganisms, including bacteria, which can play a positive role in the success of the host plant. Bacterial communities in the phylloplane are influenced by both biotic and abiotic factors, including host plant surface topography and chemistry, which change in concert with microbial communities as the plant leaves develop and age. Methods: We examined how the Zea mays L. leaf microbial community structure changed with plant age. Ribosomal spacer length and scanning electron microscopic imaging strategies were used to assess microbial community composition across maize plant ages, using a novel staggered experimental design. Results: Significant changes in community composition were observed for both molecular and imaging analyses, and the two analysis methods provided complementary information about bacterial community structure within each leaf developmental stage. Conclusions: Both taxonomic and cell-size trait patterns provided evidence for niche-based contributions to microbial community development on leaves.
Highlights
The phyllosphere, the microbial community inhabiting the surface of plant leaves[1], can play important positive roles for the plant partner
Our experimental design allowed for a single microbial sampling that was not confounded by differential exposure to recent weather events, with sampling for molecular and microscopic analyses in each plot (Figure 1)
Microbial community composition changed over time in bacterial ribosomal taxa (Permanova P-value of 0.026), as measured by differences in operational taxonomic units (OTU)
Summary
The phyllosphere, the microbial community inhabiting the surface of plant leaves[1], can play important positive roles for the plant partner. Determinants of community assembly/succession in microbial systems include biotic and abiotic factors, often classified into different community assembly rules[10]. A second class of assembly rules addresses the interactions of organisms, by either facilitation or competitive exclusion These niche interactions are often modeled separately from abiotic effects, or abiotic effects are assumed to happen first. Bacterial communities in the phylloplane are influenced by both biotic and abiotic factors, including host plant surface topography and chemistry, which change in concert with microbial communities as the plant leaves develop and age. Methods: We examined how the Zea mays L. leaf microbial community structure changed with plant age. Conclusions: Both taxonomic and cell-size trait patterns provided evidence for niche-based contributions to microbial community development on leaves
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