Composition of seagrass phyllosphere microbial communities suggests rapid environmental regulation of community structure

Abstract

Recent studies have revealed that seagrass blade surfaces, also known as the phyllosphere, are rich habitats for microbes; however, the primary drivers of composition and structure in these microbial communities are largely unknown. This study utilized a reciprocal transplant approach between two sites with different environmental conditions combined with 16S rRNA gene sequencing (iTag) to examine the relative influence of environmental conditions and host plant on phyllosphere community composition of the seagrass Thalassia testudinum. After thirty days, identity of phyllosphere microbial community members was more similar within the transplant sites than between despite differences in the source of host plant. Additionally, the diversity and evenness of these communities was significantly different between the two sites. These results indicated that local environmental conditions can be a primary driver in structuring seagrass phyllosphere microbial communities over relatively short time scales. Composition of microbial community members in this study also deviated from those in previous seagrass phyllosphere studies with a higher representation of candidate bacterial phyla and archaea than previously observed. The capacity for seagrass phyllosphere microbial communities to shift dramatically with environmental conditions, including ecosystem perturbations, could significantly affect seagrass-microbe interactions in ways that may influence the health of the seagrass host.

Environmental factors and host genotype control foliar epiphytic microbial community of wild soybeans across China

“…All of these findings indicated that the local environmental conditions could be another significant factor in shaping the foliar microbial community of wild soybeans. Our results are consistent with earlier studies ( Vogel et al, 2021 ). In general, the microbial communities colonizing the same host species and/or organs could be filtered and selected by environmental conditions, such as temperature, heat, and precipitation, which could directly shape the foliar microbial community ( Jiao et al, 2019 ; Chen et al, 2021 ).…”

Spatial and Structural Factors Shape Seagrass-Associated Bacterial Communities in Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia

“…Considering the microbial constituents in seagrass restoration is likely even more important when using transplants from other regions, or transplants grown in ex situ nurseries, especially, as we show that microbial communities can differ over comparatively small spatial scales (<10 km). If microbes are not considered it is possible that transplants could be maladapted to their new environments, or suffer from transplantation shock (Wang et al, 2021) which could be a contributing factors leading to restoration failure (Vogel et al, 2021).…”

Taxonomic and functional β-diversity patterns reveal stochastic assembly rules in microbial communities of seagrass beds

“…Microorganisms, which are often the most abundant group within systems, play a crucial role in material and energy cycling ( Tarquinio et al., 2019 ; Lemay et al., 2021 ; Nguyen et al., 2022 ). Due to their short life cycles, rapid community turnover, and sensitivity to the environment, they are excellent subjects for investigating community assemblage ( Vogel et al., 2021a , Vogel et al., 2021b ). Seagrass bed ecosystems are known for their highly diverse habitats and host abundant microbial communities, providing habitats for various marine organisms and numerous ecosystem services ( Yarnall et al., 2022 ; Han et al., 2023 ).…”