RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Global-scale structure of the eelgrass microbiome
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 089797
DO 10.1101/089797
A1 Ashkaan K Fahimipour
A1 Melissa R Kardish
A1 Jonathan A Eisen
A1 Jenna M Lang
A1 Jessica L Green
A1 John J Stachowicz
YR 2016
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/11/26/089797.abstract
AB Plant-associated microorganisms are essential for their hosts’ survival and performance. Yet, most plant microbiome studies to date have focused on terrestrial plant species sampled across relatively small spatial scales. Here we report results of a global-scale analysis of microbial communities associated with leaf and root surfaces of the marine eelgrass Zostera marina throughout the Northern Hemisphere. By contrasting host microbiomes with those of their surrounding seawater and sediment communities, we defined the structure, composition and variability of microbial communities associated with Z. marina. We also investigated hypotheses about the mechanisms driving assembly of the eelgrass microbiome using a whole-genomic metabolic modeling approach. Our results reveal aboveground leaf communities displaying high variability and spatial turnover, that strongly mirror their adjacent coastal seawater microbiomes. In contrast, eelgrass roots showed relatively low spatial turnover and were compositionally distinct from surrounding sediment communities — a result largely driven by the enrichment of predicted sulfur-reducing bacterial taxa on root surfaces. Metabolic modeling of enriched taxa was consistent with an assembly process whereby similarity in resource use drives taxonomic co-occurrence patterns on belowground, but not aboveground, host tissues. Our work provides evidence for a core Z. marina root microbiome with putative functional roles and highlights potentially disparate processes influencing microbiome assembly on different plant compartments.