Early changes in bacterial communities in wound tissues of Pinus massoniana after inoculation with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus

Abstract

<jats:title>Summary</jats:title> <jats:p>The bacterial communities in the wound tissues of <jats:italic>Pinus massoniana</jats:italic> were analysed by 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing. The results showed that the bacterial richness and diversity changed remarkably whether the wound was inoculated with pine wood nematode (PWN; <jats:italic>Bursaphelenchus xylophilus</jats:italic>) or not after 12 h. However, the predominant bacteria <jats:italic>Stenotrophomonas</jats:italic>, Burkholderiaceae, <jats:italic>Pseudomonas</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Serratia</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Delftia</jats:italic>, introduced by PWN in the wound tissues, changed within 6 h. After 6 h of PWN inoculation, the most abundant genus associating with PWN, <jats:italic>Stenotrophomonas</jats:italic>, failed to colonise the wound tissues, and the abundance of <jats:italic>Delftia</jats:italic> decreased, while the other representative bacteria, Burkholderiaceae, <jats:italic>Pseudomonas</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Serratia</jats:italic>, from the PWN were markedly enriched. In addition, our study is the first to report the association of <jats:italic>Serratia liquefaciens</jats:italic> with PWN. Predicted functional analyses using the Tax4Fun tool showed that the alterations in bacterial composition also led to shifts in their functional pathways, especially after 12 h of PWN inoculation. These findings clarified that the bacteria carried by PWN were responsible for the alterations in bacterial communities in the wound tissues and will shed light on the invasion mechanism of PWN.</jats:p>