Stems, leaves, flowers and fruits make up the biggest chunk of potential living space for microbes in the environment, but ecologists still don’t know a lot about how the microorganisms that reside there establish and maintain themselves over the course of a growing season.
Stems, leaves, flowers and fruits make up the biggest chunk of potential living space for microbes in the environment, but ecologists still don’t know a lot about how the microorganisms that reside there establish and maintain themselves over the course of a growing season.
In a new study in Nature Communications, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center scientists at Michigan State University have focused on understanding more about the plant regions above the soil where these microbes can live, called the “phyllosphere.” Ashley Shade, MSU assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, and her lab classified core members of this community in two bioenergy cropping systems: switchgrass and miscanthus. In so doing, the group made important distinctions about how these communities assemble – and how they’re connected to microbes in the soil.
Microorganisms that dwell in the phyllosphere are thought to play a role in their host’s growth and health. And, like their subterranean kin, the topside microbiome affects how much phosphorus, nitrogen and other nutrients bioenergy crops can keep out of our waterways and atmosphere.
Read more at: Michigan State University
This is Ashley Shade, MSU assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics. (Photo Credit: Courtesy of MSU)
