Mapping bark bacteria: initial insights of stemflow-induced changes in bark surface phyla

作者：Janice E. Hudson, Delphis F. Levia, Kristin M. Yoshimura, Neil Gottel, Sean A. Hudson, Jennifer F. Biddle · 发表于：Microbiology Spectrum · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1128/spectrum.03562-23 · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases、Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions、Lichen and fungal ecology

ABSTRACT Life on and within bark surfaces is likely affected by many factors, including bark moisture, bark microrelief, bark pH, and the climatology of forests. The complex set of mutually interacting biotic and abiotic factors operating on bark surfaces presents a challenge in disentangling the linkages and connections between bark-dwelling organisms and biosphere-atmosphere interactions that modulate life in the canopy. Microbial communities on bark surfaces are under-represented in the literature. Given our knowledge of microbial diversity in the phyllosphere and rhizosphere and the impacts of climatology on that diversity, we hypothesized that tree bark would create a microenvironment that selects for specific microbes and that climatological and atmospheric influences from different land uses may further influence such microbial communities. Unfortunately, to our knowledge, no such study to test this hypothesis has been conducted. Recognizing this knowledge gap, samples were collected from bark and stemflow from two northern red oak trees in exurban and suburban forest fragments in the mid-Atlantic region before and after a rain event and subjected to DNA extraction and amplicon sequencing. Major phyla present on bark at both sites include Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Significant differences in amplicon sequence variants were observed between the two trees and between the northerly and southerly aspects of the sampled trees. The resu...