In a new study, published in the journal Nature, Michigan State University scientists show how plant genes select which microbes get to live inside their leaves in order to stay healthy.
In a new study, published in the journal Nature, Michigan State University scientists show how plant genes select which microbes get to live inside their leaves in order to stay healthy.
This is the first study to show a causal relationship between plant health and assembly of the microbial community in the phyllosphere — the total above-ground portions of plants. The work suggests that organisms, from plants to animals, may share a similar strategy to control their microbiomes.
Microbiome studies are a hot topic in human health science. When scientists mention that human ‘gut bacteria’ should be well balanced, they refer to the gut microbiome, the genetic material of all the microbes living in human digestive systems.
“The field of large-scale plant microbiome study is only about a decade old,” said Sheng Yang He, lead co-author of the study, a member of the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. “We want to know if plants need a properly assembled phyllosphere microbiome.
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