Tree diversity and functional leaf traits drive herbivore‐associated microbiomes in subtropical China

Li, Yang; Chesters, Douglas; Wang, Ming‐Qiang; Wubet, Tesfaye; Schuldt, Andreas; Anttonen, Perttu; Guo, Pengfei; Chen, Jing‐Ting; Zhou, Qianxiong; Zhang, Nai‐Li; Ma, Keping; Bruelheide, Helge; Wu, Chunsheng; Zhu, Chao‐Dong

doi:10.1002/ece3.7434

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Not only do plant microbiomes differ across species, but insect herbivore microbiomes also show unique patterns associated with differences in the host plants they feed on as well. Shifts in microbiome diversity and composition linked to diet breadth (i.e., number of unique host plants) have been observed in six closely related Cephaloleia species ( Blankenchip et al, 2018 ) and between 146 different caterpillar species feeding on different host plant trees ( Li et al, 2021 ). Interestingly, when both specialist and generalist beetles fed on invasive host plant species changes in their gut microbiomes suggested they were experiencing dysbiosis ( Blankenchip et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host Plant Species Influences the Composition of Milkweed and Monarch Microbiomes

Hansen

Enders

2022

Front. Microbiol.

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Plants produce defensive chemicals for protection against insect herbivores that may also alter plant and insect associated microbial communities. However, it is unclear how expression of plant defenses impacts the assembly of insect and plant microbiomes, for example by enhancing communities for microbes that can metabolize defensive chemicals. Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) feed on milkweed species (Asclepias spp.) that vary in production of toxic cardiac glycosides, which could alter associated microbiomes. We therefore sought to understand how different milkweed species, with varying defensive chemical profiles, influence the diversity and composition of monarch and milkweed (root and leaf) bacterial communities. Using a metabarcoding approach, we compared rhizosphere, phyllosphere and monarch microbiomes across two milkweed species (Asclepias curassavica, Asclepias syriaca) and investigated top-down effects of monarch feeding on milkweed microbiomes. Overall, monarch feeding had little effect on host plant microbial communities, but each milkweed species harbored distinct rhizosphere and phyllosphere microbiomes, as did the monarchs feeding on them. There was no difference in diversity between plants species for any of the microbial communities. Taxonomic composition significantly varied between plant species for rhizospheres, phyllospheres, and monarch microbiomes and no dispersion were detected between samples. Interestingly, phyllosphere and monarch microbiomes shared a high proportion of bacterial taxa with the rhizosphere (88.78 and 95.63%, respectively), while phyllosphere and monarch microbiomes had fewer taxa in common. Overall, our results suggest milkweed species select for unique sets of microbial taxa, but to what extent differences in expression of defensive chemicals directly influences microbiome assembly remains to be tested. Host plant species also appears to drive differences in monarch caterpillar microbiomes. Further work is needed to understand how monarchs acquire microbes, for example through horizontal transfer during feeding on leaves or encountering soil when moving on or between host plants.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host Plant Species Influences the Composition of Milkweed and Monarch Microbiomes

Hansen

Enders

2022

Front. Microbiol.

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Plant diversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality via multitrophic diversity

Li,

Schuldt,

Ebeling

et al. 2024

Nat Ecol Evol

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Tree diversity and functional leaf traits drive herbivore‐associated microbiomes in subtropical China

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 2 publications

References 55 publications

Host Plant Species Influences the Composition of Milkweed and Monarch Microbiomes

Host Plant Species Influences the Composition of Milkweed and Monarch Microbiomes

Plant diversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality via multitrophic diversity

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