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Microbiomes

Curating communities from plants

Nature volume 528, pages 340–341 (2015)Cite this article

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Large-scale cultivation and genome sequencing of the bacteria that inhabit the leaves and roots of Arabidopsis plants have paved the way for probing how microbial communities assemble and function. See Article p.364

Vast networks of microorganisms live in our soils, seas and bodies. These microbiomes also develop in intimate association with plants, in which they can enhance nutrient uptake, growth and tolerance to pathogens, pests and environmental stresses. Recognition of the fundamental role of microbes in the health of plants and animals, and the centrality of microbes in many ecological processes, has led to recent proposals for international1 and US-based2 microbiome initiatives. These proposals have highlighted a key need to develop collections of cultured organisms for experimental enquiry into the function and assembly of native communities1. On page 364 of this issue, Bai et al.3 describe genome-sequenced bacterial culture collections that represent most of the species in native root- and leaf-associated microbiomes of Arabidopsis thaliana plants. They show that these collections can be used to reproducibly establish communities that resemble those found naturally on wild plants.

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Figure 1: From correlation to causation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gwyn A. Beattie is in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50014-3211, USA.,

    Gwyn A. Beattie

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  1. Gwyn A. Beattie
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Correspondence to Gwyn A. Beattie.

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Beattie, G. Curating communities from plants. Nature 528, 340–341 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16319

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