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Host genotype controls ecological change in the leaf fungal microbiome
Leaf fungal microbiomes can be fundamental drivers of host plant success, as they contain pathogens that devastate crop plants and taxa that enhance nutrient uptake, discourage herbivory, and antagonize pathogens. VanWallwendael et al. measured leaf fungal diversity with amplicon sequencing across an entire growing season in a diversity panel of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). They also sampled a replicated subset of genotypes across three additional sites to compare the importance of time, space, ecology, and genetics. The authors found a strong successional pattern in the microbiome shaped both by host genetics and environmental factors. Fungal pathogens were central to microbial covariance networks, and genotypes susceptible to pathogens differed in their expression of three cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases, suggesting that host immune genes are a principal means of controlling the entire leaf microbiome. The image shows a cross-section of a switchgrass leaf infected with rust fungus (Puccinia novopanici).
Image Credit: Raiza J Castillo Argaez
Citation: (2022) PLoS Biology Issue Image | Vol. 20(8) September 2022. PLoS Biol 20(8): ev20.i08. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pbio.v20.i08
Published: September 6, 2022
Copyright: © 2022 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Leaf fungal microbiomes can be fundamental drivers of host plant success, as they contain pathogens that devastate crop plants and taxa that enhance nutrient uptake, discourage herbivory, and antagonize pathogens. VanWallwendael et al. measured leaf fungal diversity with amplicon sequencing across an entire growing season in a diversity panel of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). They also sampled a replicated subset of genotypes across three additional sites to compare the importance of time, space, ecology, and genetics. The authors found a strong successional pattern in the microbiome shaped both by host genetics and environmental factors. Fungal pathogens were central to microbial covariance networks, and genotypes susceptible to pathogens differed in their expression of three cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases, suggesting that host immune genes are a principal means of controlling the entire leaf microbiome. The image shows a cross-section of a switchgrass leaf infected with rust fungus (Puccinia novopanici).
Image Credit: Raiza J Castillo Argaez