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Abstract
Artificial surfaces representing key features of plant leaves, such as surface topography and nutrient availability, promise to play an important role in phyllosphere microbiology. While polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) constitutes an ideal candidate for leaf replica materials, its inherent hydrophobicity limits the diffusion of aqueous liquids. To solve this, we added superabsorbent polymer fillers Carbopol® and PermulenTM to PDMS, to increase the diffusion of aqueous liquids. We demonstrate that hybrid PDMS retains its capability to resolve leaf microstructures, while exhibiting similar contact angles to PDMS and the abaxial surface of Arabidopsis thaliana leaves. Water diffusion and mass flow through hybrid PDMS membranes were consistently higher than PDMS over the 144 h experimental duration. In addition, bacteria distribution patterns on hybrid PDMS were similar to those observed on A. thaliana leaves. However, the patterns observed on hybrid PDMS appeared to be influenced by the increase in wettability. These findings demonstrate that hybrid PDMS replicas can be used as an artificial surface to study bacterial behavior and microbe-microbe interactions.
Highlights
In recent years, microbial life of the above ground parts of plants, the phyllosphere, has gained significant attention
3.1 Replication using hybrid PDMS The microfeatures present on the plant leaf surface are known to affect microbial communities on the surface.33,34) it is important to replicate the microfeatures into any artificial surface used for phyllosphere microbiology, including hybrid PDMS, at the highest possible detail
We identified a major drawback of PDMS, namely its low permeability to aqueous solutions, such as the liquid nutrients and general moisture, typically supplied by a leaf to its surface to encourage and guide bacterial colonization.32) One way to overcome this limitation of PDMS, while retaining its other material properties, is the addition of superabsorbent polymer fillers
Summary
Microbial life of the above ground parts of plants, the phyllosphere, has gained significant attention. Artificial surfaces enable a reductionist approach, which allows the investigation of plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions to be studied indivdually.4) Flat artificial surfaces, that lack spatial heterogeneity, such as nutrient agar, are routinely used in phyllosphere microbiology Such surfaces have enabled the identification and isolation of microbial inhabitants, provided information on their diversity, and approximate location on the leaf surface.5-7) Inert materials, such as metals, glass or other inorganic materials, have been used in studies investigating bacterial attachment processes.). Biomimetic replica leaves are an important development that has the potential to mimic this complexity.4) The majority of biomimetic replica leaves fabricated far, have replicated the superhydrophobic, superoleophobic, and superhydrophilic properties of leaves These properties have been applied in producing anti-reflection, anti-fouling, and anti-fogging coatings.15-19) Yet, some studies using biomimetic replica surfaces for phyllosphere microbiology applications are starting to appear. An example can be found in the study conducted by Zhang et al, where they report the influence of replicated leaf features on the behaviour of Escherichia coli on agarose replica spinach leaves.20)
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