The Experts below are selected from a list of 360 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Steven W Kembel - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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host species identity site and time drive temperate tree Phyllosphere bacterial community structure
Microbiome, 2016Co-Authors: Isabelle Laforestlapointe, Christian Messier, Steven W KembelAbstract:Background The increasing awareness of the role of Phyllosphere microbial communities in plant health calls for a greater understanding of their structure and dynamics in natural ecosystems. Since most knowledge of tree Phyllosphere bacterial communities has been gathered in tropical forests, our goal was to characterize the community structure and assembly dynamics of Phyllosphere epiphytic bacterial communities in temperate forests in Quebec, Canada. We targeted five dominant tree species: Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, Betula papyrifera, Abies balsamea, and Picea glauca. We collected 180 samples of Phyllosphere communities on these species at four natural forest sites, three times during the growing season.
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host species identity site and time drive temperate tree Phyllosphere bacterial community structure
Microbiome, 2016Co-Authors: Isabelle Laforestlapointe, Christian Messier, Steven W KembelAbstract:The increasing awareness of the role of Phyllosphere microbial communities in plant health calls for a greater understanding of their structure and dynamics in natural ecosystems. Since most knowledge of tree Phyllosphere bacterial communities has been gathered in tropical forests, our goal was to characterize the community structure and assembly dynamics of Phyllosphere epiphytic bacterial communities in temperate forests in Quebec, Canada. We targeted five dominant tree species: Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, Betula papyrifera, Abies balsamea, and Picea glauca. We collected 180 samples of Phyllosphere communities on these species at four natural forest sites, three times during the growing season. Host functional traits (i.e., wood density, leaf nitrogen content) and climate variables (summer mean temperature and precipitation) were strongly correlated with community structure. We highlight three key findings: (1) temperate tree species share a “core microbiome”; (2) significant evolutionary associations exist between groups of bacteria and host species; and (3) a greater part of the variation in Phyllosphere bacterial community assembly is explained by host species identity (27 %) and species-site interaction (14 %), than by site (11 %) or time (1 %). We demonstrated that host species identity is a stronger driver of temperate tree Phyllosphere bacterial communities than site or time. Our results suggest avenues for future studies on the influence of host functional traits on Phyllosphere community functional biogeography across terrestrial biomes.
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Tree Phyllosphere bacterial communities: exploring the magnitude of intra- and inter-individual variation among host species
PeerJ Inc., 2016Co-Authors: Isabelle Laforest-lapointe, Christian Messier, Steven W KembelAbstract:Background The diversity and composition of the microbial community of tree leaves (the Phyllosphere) varies among trees and host species and along spatial, temporal, and environmental gradients. Phyllosphere community variation within the canopy of an individual tree exists but the importance of this variation relative to among-tree and among-species variation is poorly understood. Sampling techniques employed for Phyllosphere studies include picking leaves from one canopy location to mixing randomly selected leaves from throughout the canopy. In this context, our goal was to characterize the relative importance of intra-individual variation in Phyllosphere communities across multiple species, and compare this variation to inter-individual and interspecific variation of Phyllosphere epiphytic bacterial communities in a natural temperate forest in Quebec, Canada. Methods We targeted five dominant temperate forest tree species including angiosperms and gymnosperms: Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, Betula papyrifera, Abies balsamea and Picea glauca. For one randomly selected tree of each species, we sampled microbial communities at six distinct canopy locations: bottom-canopy (1–2 m height), the four cardinal points of mid-canopy (2–4 m height), and the top-canopy (4–6 m height). We also collected bottom-canopy leaves from five additional trees from each species. Results Based on an analysis of bacterial community structure measured via Illumina sequencing of the bacterial 16S gene, we demonstrate that 65% of the intra-individual variation in leaf bacterial community structure could be attributed to the effect of inter-individual and inter-specific differences while the effect of canopy location was not significant. In comparison, host species identity explains 47% of inter-individual and inter-specific variation in leaf bacterial community structure followed by individual identity (32%) and canopy location (6%). Discussion Our results suggest that individual samples from consistent positions within the tree canopy from multiple individuals per species can be used to accurately quantify variation in Phyllosphere bacterial community structure. However, the considerable amount of intra-individual variation within a tree canopy ask for a better understanding of how changes in leaf characteristics and local abiotic conditions drive spatial variation in the Phyllosphere microbiome
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relationships between Phyllosphere bacterial communities and plant functional traits in a neotropical forest
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2014Co-Authors: Steven W Kembel, Timothy K Oconnor, Holly K Arnold, Stephen P Hubbell, Joseph S Wright, Jessica L GreenAbstract:The Phyllosphere—the aerial surfaces of plants, including leaves—is a ubiquitous global habitat that harbors diverse bacterial communities. Phyllosphere bacterial communities have the potential to influence plant biogeography and ecosystem function through their influence on the fitness and function of their hosts, but the host attributes that drive community assembly in the Phyllosphere are poorly understood. In this study we used high-throughput sequencing to quantify bacterial community structure on the leaves of 57 tree species in a neotropical forest in Panama. We tested for relationships between bacterial communities on tree leaves and the functional traits, taxonomy, and phylogeny of their plant hosts. Bacterial communities on tropical tree leaves were diverse; leaves from individual trees were host to more than 400 bacterial taxa. Bacterial communities in the Phyllosphere were dominated by a core microbiome of taxa including Actinobacteria, Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria, and Sphingobacteria. Host attributes including plant taxonomic identity, phylogeny, growth and mortality rates, wood density, leaf mass per area, and leaf nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations were correlated with bacterial community structure on leaves. The relative abundances of several bacterial taxa were correlated with suites of host plant traits related to major axes of plant trait variation, including the leaf economics spectrum and the wood density–growth/mortality tradeoff. These correlations between Phyllosphere bacterial diversity and host growth, mortality, and function suggest that incorporating information on plant–microbe associations will improve our ability to understand plant functional biogeography and the drivers of variation in plant and ecosystem function.
Zhihui Bai - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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microbial community overlap between the Phyllosphere and rhizosphere of three plants from yongxing island south china sea
MicrobiologyOpen, 2020Co-Authors: Lijun Bao, Guoqiang Zhuang, Xuliang Zhuang, Wenyang Cai, Jianxi Cao, Xiaofen Zhang, Jinhong Liu, Hao Chen, Yuansong Wei, Zhihui BaiAbstract:Phyllosphere and rhizosphere are unique and wide-ranging habitats that harbor various microbial communities, which influence plant growth and health, and the productivity of the ecosystems. In this study, we characterized the shared microbiome of the Phyllosphere and rhizosphere among three plants (Ipomoea pes-caprae, Wedelia chinensis, and Cocos nucifera), to obtain an insight into the relationships between bacteria (including diazotrophic bacteria) and fungi, present on these host plants. Quantitative PCR showed that the abundances of the microbiome in the soil samples were significantly higher than those in the Phyllosphere samples, though there was an extremely low abundance of fungi in bulk soil. High-throughput sequencing showed that the alpha-diversity of bacteria and fungi was higher in the rhizosphere than the Phyllosphere samples associated with the same plant, while there was no obvious shift in the alpha-diversity of diazotrophic communities between all the tested Phyllosphere and soil samples. Results of the microbial composition showed that sample-specific bacteria and fungi were found among the Phyllosphere and rhizosphere of the different host plants. About 10%-27% of bacteria, including diazotrophs, and fungi overlapped between the Phyllosphere and the rhizosphere of these host plants. No significant difference in microbial community structure was found among the tested rhizosphere samples, and soil properties had a higher influence on the soil microbial community structures than the host plant species.
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maize zea mays l sp varieties significantly influence bacterial and fungal community in bulk soil rhizosphere soil and Phyllosphere
FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 2020Co-Authors: Decai Jin, Xiao Kong, Zhenfei Han, Xin Tai, Xiaoxu Zheng, Zhihui BaiAbstract:The plant-microbe interaction can affect ecosystem function, and many studies have demonstrated that plant species influence relevant microorganisms. In this study, microbial communities in bulk soil, rhizosphere soil and Phyllosphere from different maize varieties were investigated using high-throughput sequencing method. Results demonstrated that cultivar Gaoneng 1 (G1) showed higher bacterial diversity in soil (both bulk and rhizosphere soils) and lower bacterial diversity in the Phyllosphere, while cultivar Gaoneng 2 (G2) had lower fungal diversity in both the soil and Phyllosphere compare to the other cultivars. The bacterial community structure of soils among the three varieties was significantly different; however, no significant differences were found in the soil fungal community and Phyllosphere bacterial and fungal community. The soil networks from cultivar G1 and Phyllosphere networks from cultivar Zhengdan (ZD) have the highest complexity in contrast to the other two cultivars. In conclusion, the bacterial community structure in bulk soil of different cultivars was significantly different, so do the co-occurrence ecological networks of Phyllosphere bacterial community. This study comprehensively analyzed the microbial community among different maize cultivars and could be useful for guiding practices, such as evaluation of new plant cultivars and quality predictions of these varieties at the microbial level.
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genetic diversity of diazotrophs and total bacteria in the Phyllosphere of pyrus serotina prunus armeniaca prunus avium and vitis vinifera
Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 2019Co-Authors: Guoqiang Zhuang, Shengxian Liang, Hao Liu, Decai Jin, Francesco Faiola, Xuliang Zhuang, Haiyan Fan, Zhihui BaiAbstract:The Phyllosphere, which supports a large number of microorganisms, represents the interface between the aboveground parts of plants and air. In this study, four nifH clone libraries were constructed from the Phyllosphere of Pyrus serotina (L), Vitis vinifera (P), Prunus armeniaca (X), and Prunus avium (Y). Clones related to Skermanella (L, 12.1%; X, 15.6%; Y, 62.5%; P 70.8%), Bradyrhizobium (X, 2.1%; P, 15.1%; L, 63.7%), Erwinia (X, 68.8%), Pseudomonas (L, 3.3%; P, 7.6%), and Chroococcidiopsis (P, 0.9%; L, 4.4%, X; 5.2%, Y; 19.6%) were present at high percentages, highlighting their critical role in contributing nitrogen to the Phyllosphere ecosystem. The 16S rDNA sequence analysis suggested that Phyllosphere-associated bacteria were affiliated with a wide range of taxa, encompassing members from Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria, Tenericutes, and Deinococcus-Thermus. Additionally, the abundance of the nifH gene and 16S rDNA was assessed with quantitative PCR. The number of copies of nifH and 16S rDNA ranged from 1.14 × 103 to 1.49 × 104 and from 3.72 × 106 to 7.02 × 107 copies/g fresh leaf sample, respectively. In conclusion, our work sheds light on the microbial communities of the Phyllosphere that are important for plant growth. Moreover, we observed a unique composition of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in each Phyllosphere sample, suggesting the existence of specific interactions between these functional microorganism and plants, which may provide information or be a reference for the development of bacterial fertilizers.
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the Phyllosphere indigenous microbiota of brassica campestris l change its diversity in responding to di n butyl phthalate pollution
World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology, 2019Co-Authors: Jiangang Pan, Decai Jin, Haiming Jiang, Xiaoyun Leng, Aiai Zhang, Zhihui BaiAbstract:In this study, the effects of di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) on the Phyllosphere bacterial community of field mustard (Brassica campestris L.) at the five-leaf stage were investigated. The indigenous alpha-diversity of the Phyllosphere bacteria was altered after spraying with different concentrations of DBP. Shannon diversity indices were significantly changed on day 5 after treatment at DBP concentrations > 400 mg L−1 (P > 0.05). Nevertheless, the difference between treatment and control was not significant on day 9 after DBP treatment (P > 0.05). Exposure to DBP resulted in a decrease in Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, and an increase in Actinobacteria at all sampling intervals. These changes included significant increases in the relative abundance of Paracoccus and Rhodococcus, and significant decreases in that of Pseudomonas, Exiguobacterium, an unclassified genus of Pseudomonadaceae, and an unclassified genus of Enterobacteriaceae. This study provides new evidence for the possibility of using Phyllosphere microbiota to remediate DBP contamination.
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The impacts of cypermethrin pesticide application on the non-target microbial community of the pepper plant Phyllosphere.
The Science of the total environment, 2009Co-Authors: Baoguo Zhang, Zhihui Bai, Daniel Hoefel, Ling Tang, Xiaoyi Wang, Guoqiang ZhuangAbstract:Abstract Although pesticides have been extensively used for controlling insects and disease pathogens of plants, little is known regarding the impacts of applying these pesticides on the microbial community in the plant Phyllosphere. Here, we report the effects of cypermethrin pesticide application upon the microbial community of the pepper plant Phyllosphere. Assessments were made using culture-independent techniques including phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA) and 16S rRNA gene directed Polymerase Chain Reaction with Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (PCR–DGGE). During the 21 day greenhouse study, PLFA results indicated that both total and bacterial biomass increased after application of the pesticide. PLFA profiles also indicated that Gram-negative bacteria became predominant. DGGE analysis confirmed a significant change in bacterial community structure within the Phyllosphere following the pesticide application where different dendrogram clusters were observed between control and treated samples. Phylogenetic analysis also suggested a change in bacterial phyla following treatment, where bands sequenced within control cultures were predominantly of the Firmicutes phylum, but those bands sequenced in the treated samples were predominantly members of the Bacteroidetes and γ-Proteobacteria phyla. In conclusion, this study revealed an increase in bacterial abundance and a shift in community composition within the pepper plant Phyllosphere following the pesticide application, and highlighted the effective use of PLFA and PCR–DGGE for studying the effect of pesticides upon indigenous Phyllosphere microbes.
Christian Messier - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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host species identity site and time drive temperate tree Phyllosphere bacterial community structure
Microbiome, 2016Co-Authors: Isabelle Laforestlapointe, Christian Messier, Steven W KembelAbstract:Background The increasing awareness of the role of Phyllosphere microbial communities in plant health calls for a greater understanding of their structure and dynamics in natural ecosystems. Since most knowledge of tree Phyllosphere bacterial communities has been gathered in tropical forests, our goal was to characterize the community structure and assembly dynamics of Phyllosphere epiphytic bacterial communities in temperate forests in Quebec, Canada. We targeted five dominant tree species: Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, Betula papyrifera, Abies balsamea, and Picea glauca. We collected 180 samples of Phyllosphere communities on these species at four natural forest sites, three times during the growing season.
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host species identity site and time drive temperate tree Phyllosphere bacterial community structure
Microbiome, 2016Co-Authors: Isabelle Laforestlapointe, Christian Messier, Steven W KembelAbstract:The increasing awareness of the role of Phyllosphere microbial communities in plant health calls for a greater understanding of their structure and dynamics in natural ecosystems. Since most knowledge of tree Phyllosphere bacterial communities has been gathered in tropical forests, our goal was to characterize the community structure and assembly dynamics of Phyllosphere epiphytic bacterial communities in temperate forests in Quebec, Canada. We targeted five dominant tree species: Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, Betula papyrifera, Abies balsamea, and Picea glauca. We collected 180 samples of Phyllosphere communities on these species at four natural forest sites, three times during the growing season. Host functional traits (i.e., wood density, leaf nitrogen content) and climate variables (summer mean temperature and precipitation) were strongly correlated with community structure. We highlight three key findings: (1) temperate tree species share a “core microbiome”; (2) significant evolutionary associations exist between groups of bacteria and host species; and (3) a greater part of the variation in Phyllosphere bacterial community assembly is explained by host species identity (27 %) and species-site interaction (14 %), than by site (11 %) or time (1 %). We demonstrated that host species identity is a stronger driver of temperate tree Phyllosphere bacterial communities than site or time. Our results suggest avenues for future studies on the influence of host functional traits on Phyllosphere community functional biogeography across terrestrial biomes.
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Tree Phyllosphere bacterial communities: exploring the magnitude of intra- and inter-individual variation among host species
PeerJ Inc., 2016Co-Authors: Isabelle Laforest-lapointe, Christian Messier, Steven W KembelAbstract:Background The diversity and composition of the microbial community of tree leaves (the Phyllosphere) varies among trees and host species and along spatial, temporal, and environmental gradients. Phyllosphere community variation within the canopy of an individual tree exists but the importance of this variation relative to among-tree and among-species variation is poorly understood. Sampling techniques employed for Phyllosphere studies include picking leaves from one canopy location to mixing randomly selected leaves from throughout the canopy. In this context, our goal was to characterize the relative importance of intra-individual variation in Phyllosphere communities across multiple species, and compare this variation to inter-individual and interspecific variation of Phyllosphere epiphytic bacterial communities in a natural temperate forest in Quebec, Canada. Methods We targeted five dominant temperate forest tree species including angiosperms and gymnosperms: Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, Betula papyrifera, Abies balsamea and Picea glauca. For one randomly selected tree of each species, we sampled microbial communities at six distinct canopy locations: bottom-canopy (1–2 m height), the four cardinal points of mid-canopy (2–4 m height), and the top-canopy (4–6 m height). We also collected bottom-canopy leaves from five additional trees from each species. Results Based on an analysis of bacterial community structure measured via Illumina sequencing of the bacterial 16S gene, we demonstrate that 65% of the intra-individual variation in leaf bacterial community structure could be attributed to the effect of inter-individual and inter-specific differences while the effect of canopy location was not significant. In comparison, host species identity explains 47% of inter-individual and inter-specific variation in leaf bacterial community structure followed by individual identity (32%) and canopy location (6%). Discussion Our results suggest that individual samples from consistent positions within the tree canopy from multiple individuals per species can be used to accurately quantify variation in Phyllosphere bacterial community structure. However, the considerable amount of intra-individual variation within a tree canopy ask for a better understanding of how changes in leaf characteristics and local abiotic conditions drive spatial variation in the Phyllosphere microbiome
Katharina Eitzen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a fungal member of the arabidopsis thaliana Phyllosphere antagonizes albugo laibachii via a gh25 lysozyme
eLife, 2021Co-Authors: Eric Kemen, Samuel Kroll, Katharina Eitzen, Priyamedha Sengupta, Gunther DoehlemannAbstract:Plants are not only challenged by pathogenic organisms but also colonized by commensal microbes. The network of interactions these microbes establish with their host and among each other is suggested to contribute to the immune responses of plants against pathogens. In wild Arabidopsis thaliana populations, the oomycete pathogen Albugo laibachii plays an influential role in structuring the leaf Phyllosphere. We show that the epiphytic yeast Moesziomyces bullatus ex Albugo on Arabidopsis, a close relative of pathogenic smut fungi, is an antagonistic member of the A. thaliana Phyllosphere, which reduces infection of A. thaliana by A. laibachii. Combination of transcriptomics, reverse genetics, and protein characterization identified a GH25 hydrolase with lysozyme activity as a major effector of this microbial antagonism. Our findings broaden the understanding of microbial interactions within the Phyllosphere, provide insights into the evolution of epiphytic basidiomycete yeasts, and pave the way for novel biocontrol strategies.
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a fungal member of the arabidopsis thaliana Phyllosphere antagonizes albugo laibachii via a secreted lysozyme
bioRxiv, 2020Co-Authors: Eric Kemen, Samuel Kroll, Katharina Eitzen, Priyamedha Sengupta, Gunther DoehlemannAbstract:Abstract Plants are not only challenged by pathogenic organisms, but also colonized by commensal microbes. The network of interactions these microbes establish with their host and amongst each other is suggested to contribute to the immune responses of plants against pathogens. In wild Arabidopsis thaliana populations, the oomycete pathogen Albugo laibachii has been shown to play an influential role in structuring the leaf Phyllosphere. We show that the epiphytic yeast Moesziomyces bullatus ex Albugo on Arabidopsis, a close relative of pathogenic smut fungi, is an antagonistic member of the A. thaliana Phyllosphere, which reduces infection of A. thaliana by A. laibachii. Combination of transcriptome analysis, reverse genetics and protein characterization identified a GH25 hydrolase with lysozyme activity as the major effector of this microbial antagonism. Our findings broaden the understanding of microbial interactions within the Phyllosphere, provide insights into the evolution of epiphytic basidiomycete yeasts and pave the way for the development of novel biocontrol strategies.
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a fungal member of the microbial Phyllosphere antagonizes infection of arabidopsis thaliana by the oomycete pathogen albugo laibachii via a putative secreted hydrolase
bioRxiv, 2020Co-Authors: Katharina Eitzen, Eric Kemen, Samuel Kroll, Priyamedha Sengupta, Gunther DoehlemannAbstract:In natural habitats, plants are not only challenged by pathogenic organisms, but also extensively colonized by commensal microbes. The network of interactions that these microbes establish with their host and amongst each other has been suggested to contribute to the immune responses of plants against pathogens. In wild Arabidopsis thaliana populations, the oomycete pathogen Albugo laibachii has been shown to play an influential role in structuring the microbial communities of the leaf surface, known as Phyllosphere. In this study, we show that the epiphytic yeast Moesziomyces albugensis, a close relative of pathogenic smut fungi, plays an antagonistic role in the microbial Phyllosphere of Arabidopsis thaliana. In particular, M. albugensis prevents infection of A. thaliana by A. laibachii. Through a combination of transcriptome analysis and reverse genetics we identified a gene encoding a putative GH25 hydrolase as the major effector of the microbial antagonism of M. albugensis. Our findings broaden the understanding of microbial interactions within the Phyllosphere, provide insights into the evolution of epiphytic basidiomycete yeasts and pave the way for the development of novel biocontrol strategies.
Jean-pierre Peros - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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understanding the Phyllosphere microbiome assemblage in grape species vitaceae with amplicon sequence data structures
Scientific Reports, 2019Co-Authors: Prashant Singh, Sylvain Santoni, Audrey Weber, Patrice This, Jean-pierre PerosAbstract:Impacts of plant genotype on microbial assemblage in the Phyllosphere (above-ground parts of plants, which predominantly consists of the set of photosynthetic leaves) of Vitis vinifera cultivars have been studied previously but the impact of grape species (under the grape family Vitaceae) was never investigated. Considering the fact, that the Phyllosphere microbiome may have profound effects on host plant health and its performance traits, studying the impact of grape species in microbial taxa structuring in the Phyllosphere could be of crucial importance. We performed 16S and ITS profiling (for bacteria and fungi respectively) to access genus level characterization of the microflora present in the leaf Phyllosphere of five species within this plant family, sampled in two successive years from the repository situated in the Mediterranean. We also performed α and β-diversity analyses with robust statistical estimates to test the impacts of grape species and growing year, over a two-year period. Our results indicated the presence of complex microbial diversity and assemblages in the Phyllosphere with a significant effect of both factors (grape species and growing year), the latter effect is being more pronounced. We also compared separate normalization methods for high-throughput microbiome data-sets followed by differential taxa abundance analyses. The results suggested the predominance of a particular normalization method over others. This also indicated the need for more robust normalization methods to study the differential taxa abundance among groups in microbiome research.
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Understanding the Phyllosphere microbiome assemblage in grape species (Vitaceae) with amplicon sequence data structures
Scientific Reports, 2019Co-Authors: Prashant Singh, Sylvain Santoni, Audrey Weber, Patrice This, Jean-pierre PerosAbstract:Impacts of plant genotype on microbial assemblage in the Phyllosphere (above-ground parts of plants, which predominantly consists of the set of photosynthetic leaves) of Vitis vinifera cultivars have been studied previously but the impact of grape species (under the grape family Vitaceae) was never investigated. Considering the fact, that the Phyllosphere microbiome may have profound effects on host plant health and its performance traits, studying the impact of grape species in microbial taxa structuring in the Phyllosphere could be of crucial importance. We performed 165 and ITS profiling (for bacteria and fungi respectively) to access genus level characterization of the microflora present in the leaf Phyllosphere of five species within this plant family, sampled in two successive years from the repository situated in the Mediterranean. We also performed alpha and beta-diversity analyses with robust statistical estimates to test the impacts of grape species and growing year, over a two-year period. Our results indicated the presence of complex microbial diversity and assemblages in the Phyllosphere with a significant effect of both factors (grape species and growing year), the latter effect is being more pronounced. We also compared separate normalization methods for high-throughput microbiome data-sets followed by differential taxa abundance analyses. The results suggested the predominance of a particular normalization method over others. This also indicated the need for more robust normalization methods to study the differential taxa abundance among groups in microbiome research.