Microbial eukaryotes: the dark matter in the phyllosphere universe
A. MARI (1), M. Agler (1), S. Hacquard (1), F. Roux (2), C. Alonso-Blanco (3), J. Ågren (4), M. Bonkowski (5), E. Kemen (1) (1) Max Planck Institute for Plant breeding research, Carl von Linné weg 10, 50829 Köln, Germany, Germany; (2) INRA, Laboratoire des Interactions Plantes-Microorganismes (LIPM), UMR441, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France;, France; (3) Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid-28049, Spain., Spain; (4) Department of Plant Ecology and Evolution, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 D, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden, Sweden; (5) Universität zu Köln, Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Zülpicher Straße 47b, Köln, Germany, Germany
Phyllosphere microbial communities have been reported to strongly affect plant physiology and fitness. Studies on the microbiome of A.thaliana reported that some microbes, including Albugo sp, hold a significant role in shaping the whole leaf microbial community, behaving as “microbial hubs” in reconstructed scale-free networks. However, the role of microbial eukaryotes is still poorly understood. Protists are able to shape bacterial communities by selectively grazing, and are therefore likely to hold a top-level role within plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions. In order to investigate the role of protists within leaf microbial networks, we first aimed to describe leaf associated protists communities. We chose 18S Illumina amplicon sequencing to unravel a broad range of eukaryotes in the A.thaliana leaf microbiome. Samples were taken from wild plant populations along a European latitudinal range (Spain, France, Germany and Sweden). From each individual plant we sampled both endophytic and epiphytic communities. First results display co-occurrence of the genera Trebouxia, Chlorochytrium (Chlorophyta) and Cercomonas (Cercozoa), with the microbial hub genus Albugo. This is the first time that algae and protozoa are reported to inhabit A.thaliana mesophyll. In addition, the co-occurrence of a grazer (Cercomonas), sugar producers (Chlorophyta) and Albugo, underpins the hypothesis of a major role of microbial eukaryotes in structuring the microbial community of the leaf.
Abstract Number:
P3-74
Session Type:
Poster
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