Abiotic and biotic drivers of endosymbiont community assembly in Jatropha curcas

Abstract

While the endosymbiotic communities recruited by plants are known to vary among host species and across environmental gradients, the drivers of community assembly remain poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that establishment of an endosymbiotic bacterial community is driven primarily by the influence of the abiotic environment on biotic interactions between plant and soil bacteria. We planted sterile Jatropha curcas seedlings at three field sites in Panama and in a greenhouse with soil from those sites. After allowing sufficient time for endosymbiont colonization, we sequenced bacterial 16S rRNA to study the endophytic bacterial community in root and leaf tissue. We compared the communities between field and greenhouse plants and examined associations among the endosymbionts, the soil microbial community, and local abiotic factors. We found that endosymbiont richness and community composition varied between the greenhouse and field, despite plants being grown in the same soil. Plants in each field site harbored a distinct bacterial community, determined by soil microbes and select environmental variables, particularly major plant nutrients. Jatropha curcas can harbor a wide variety of endosymbiotic communities, and the composition of these communities is a product of the local environment. Fertility and agricultural practices may determine the fate of plant symbionts and therefore plant properties modulated through those symbionts.

The Macleaya cordata Symbiont: Revealing the Effects of Plant Niches and Alkaloids on the Bacterial Community

“…They migrated and colonized the area around the root of plants under the influence of the roots’ secretions ( Tahtamouni et al, 2015 ). Rhizospheric microbial community composition was significantly influenced by the physical and chemical parameters in soil ( Winston et al, 2017 ; Hartman et al, 2018 ; Ziyuan et al, 2020 ), which also affected the plant compartments in part ( Mighell et al, 2019 ). However, Two studies on Arabidopsis showed that the endophytic microbial community composition in the Arabidopsis plants growing on four different soils was similar ( Davide et al, 2012 ; Lundberg et al, 2012 ), indicating the existence of host mediated control mechanisms.…”

Natural Bacterial Assemblages in Arabidopsis thaliana Tissues Become More Distinguishable and Diverse during Host Development

“…Although plant tissue appears to filter bacterial colonists, we do not yet fully understand how spatial and temporal variation influences this process in natural environments. Variation in abiotic factors and the pool of soil colonists at planting sites can influence the efficiency with which bacterial lineages enter plants, leading to associations between geographic location and the composition of bacterial assemblages in plant tissues (21)(22)(23). Recent evidence suggests that within plants, communities in different tissues are composed of a common pool of systemic colonists (24,25).…”

Natural bacterial assemblages inArabidopsis thalianatissues become more distinguishable and diverse during host development

“…Although plant tissue appears to filter bacterial colonists, we do not yet fully understand how spatial and temporal variation influences this process in natural environments. Variation in abiotic factors and the pool of soil colonists at planting sites can influence the efficiency with which bacterial lineages enter plants, leading to associations between geographic location and the composition of bacterial assemblages in plant tissues (21,22,23). Within plants, recent evidence suggests that communities in different tissues are composed of a common pool of systemic colonists (24,25).…”