Spatially explicit depiction of a floral epiphytic bacterial community reveals role for environmental filtering within petals.

ABSTRACT: The microbiome of flowers (anthosphere) is an understudied compartment of the plant microbiome. Within the flower, petals represent a heterogeneous environment for microbes in terms of resources and environmental stress. Yet, little is known of drivers of structure and function of the epiphytic microbial community at the within-petal scale. We characterized the petal microbiome in two co-flowering plants that differ in the pattern of ultraviolet (UV) absorption along their petals. Bacterial communities were similar between plant hosts, with only rare phylogenetically distant species contributing to differences. The epiphyte community was highly culturable (75% of families) lending confidence in the spatially explicit isolation and characterization of bacteria. In one host, petals were hete

SUBMITTER: Hayes RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7859501 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature