Traits-based approach: leveraging genome size in plant-microbe interactions

Trends Microbiol. 2023 Nov 2:S0966-842X(23)00294-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2023.10.004. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTTrait-based approaches have gained growing interest in studying plant-microbe interactions. However, current traits normally considered (e.g., morphological, physiological, or chemical traits) are biased towards those showing large intraspecific variations, necessitating the identification of fewer plastic traits that differ between species. Here, we propose using genome size (the amount of DNA in the nucleus of a cell) as a suitable trait for studying plant-microbiome interactions due to its relatively stable nature, minimally affected by external environmental variations. Emerging evidence suggests that plant genome size affects the plant-associated microbial community, and tissue-specific environments select microbes based on their genome size. These findings pinpoint environmental selection in genome size as an emerging driver of plant-microbiome interactions, potentially impacting ecosystem functions and productivity.PMID:37925351 | DOI:10.1016/j.tim.2023.10.004

Source: Trends in Microbiology - November 4, 2023 Category: Microbiology Authors: Haiyang Zhang Hongwei Liu Xingguo Han Source Type: research