Microbial Flow Within an Air-Phyllosphere-Soil Continuum

Abstract

The phyllosphere is populated by numerous microorganisms. Microbes from the wider environment, i.e., air and soil, are considered key contributors to phyllosphere microbial communities, but their contribution is unclear. This study seeks to address this knowledge gap by controlling the movement of microbes along the air-phyllosphere-soil continuum. Customized equipment with dual chambers was constructed that permitted airflow to enter the first chamber while the second chamber recruited filtered microbe-free air from the initial chamber. Allium schoenoprasum (chive) and Sonchus oleraceus (sow thistle) were cultivated in both chambers, and the microbial communities from air, phyllosphere, and soil samples were characterized. Shares of microbial OTUs in the equipment suggested a potential interconnection between the air, phyllosphere, and soil system. Fast expectation-maximization microbial source tracking (FEAST) suggested that soil was the major source of airborne microbial communities. In contrast, the contribution of airborne and soil microbes to phyllosphere microbial communities of either A. schoenoprasum or S. oleraceus was limited. Notably, the soilborne microbes were the only environmental sources to phyllosphere in the second chamber and could affect the composition of phyllosphere microbiota indirectly by air flow. The current study demonstrated the possible sources of phyllosphere microbes by controlling external airborne microbes in a designed microcosm system and provided a potential strategy for recruitment for phyllosphere recruitment.

Indoor green can modify the indoor dust microbial communities

“…55 Moreover, research supports the potential of rhizosphere-related microbial flora, similar to the microbiome of the phyllosphere, to directly or indirectly contribute to the composition of the microbiome in the surrounding air. 56,57 In our analysis, we identified microbial richness-sensitive indices as being associated with indoor plants, whereas we did not observe an association for the amount of microbes. This suggests that sourcing of plant-associated bacteria and fungi into the airborne indoor microbiota appears to be a more subtle addition of bacterial and fungal taxa to the core indoor microbiota, rather than a considerable increase in microbial biomass in indoor airborne dust.…”

“…Besides the extensive communication between above‐ground plant compartments and the air, the rhizosphere, represented as the root‐soil interface, similarly contains many different microenvironments supporting the growth of highly diverse microbial communities 55 . Moreover, research supports the potential of rhizosphere‐related microbial flora, similar to the microbiome of the phyllosphere, to directly or indirectly contribute to the composition of the microbiome in the surrounding air 56,57 …”

Microbial ecology of the atmosphere

“…Emission from the surface, known as aerosolization, is dependent upon the substrate and a major factor is the nature of the interface with air, such as the composition of plant cover (Zhou et al . 2021 ), cohesiveness of soil (Joung et al . 2017 , Archer et al .…”

Guided by Microbes: Applying Community Coalescence Principles for Predictive Microbiome Engineering

“…Community coalescence—dispersal en masse—is a pervasive process in the microbial realm ( 1 – 4 ). For example, leaf and soil microbiomes make contact and integrate during litterfall ( 5 ). Blending separated communities often occurs in tandem with their respective environments, characteristic of stream confluences ( 2 ).…”