Abstract
Pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs (PPFMs) capable of growth on methanol are dominant and versatile phyllosphere bacteria that provide positive effects on plant growth through symbiosis. However, the spatiotemporal behavior of PPFMs on plant surfaces and its molecular basis are unknown. Here we show that Methylobacterium sp. strain OR01 inoculated onto red perilla seeds colonized across the entire plant surface in the phyllosphere concomitant with the plant growth. FliC flagellin proteins required for motility were necessary for distributed colonization on plant leaves, but not for colonization at the leaf periphery. Methanol-sensing chemoreceptor MtpA-dependent chemotaxis (methylotaxis; chemotaxis toward methanol) facilitated the bacterial movement from the peripheral to the inner part of leaves and further entry into the stomatal cavity, indicating that methanol functions as a volatile messenger attracting PPFMs to particular leaf locations possibly to support with photosynthesis and to afford protection from pathogenic invasion.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
Supplementary Fig. 5 (Fig 5-figure supplement 1) was updated and related descriptions in the main text were revised.
