A metacommunity ecology approach to understanding microbial community assembly in developing plant seeds
Microorganisms have the potential to affect plant seed germination and seedling fitness, ultimately impacting plant health and community dynamics. Because seed-associated microbiota are highly variable across individual plants, plant species, and environments, it is challenging to identify the domin...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.877519/full |
| _version_ | 1828785218673180672 |
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| author | Gillian E. Bergmann Johan H. J. Leveau |
| author_facet | Gillian E. Bergmann Johan H. J. Leveau |
| author_sort | Gillian E. Bergmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Microorganisms have the potential to affect plant seed germination and seedling fitness, ultimately impacting plant health and community dynamics. Because seed-associated microbiota are highly variable across individual plants, plant species, and environments, it is challenging to identify the dominant processes that underlie the assembly, composition, and influence of these communities. We propose here that metacommunity ecology provides a conceptually useful framework for studying the microbiota of developing seeds, by the application of metacommunity principles of filtering, species interactions, and dispersal at multiple scales. Many studies in seed microbial ecology already describe individual assembly processes in a pattern-based manner, such as correlating seed microbiome composition with genotype or tracking diversity metrics across treatments in dispersal limitation experiments. But we see a lot of opportunities to examine understudied aspects of seed microbiology, including trait-based research on mechanisms of filtering and dispersal at the micro-scale, the use of pollination exclusion experiments in macro-scale seed studies, and an in-depth evaluation of how these processes interact via priority effect experiments and joint species distribution modeling. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T23:46:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-656f3e9a2017451ba0223471d7e64cdc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T23:46:59Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-656f3e9a2017451ba0223471d7e64cdc2022-12-22T00:45:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2022-07-011310.3389/fmicb.2022.877519877519A metacommunity ecology approach to understanding microbial community assembly in developing plant seedsGillian E. BergmannJohan H. J. LeveauMicroorganisms have the potential to affect plant seed germination and seedling fitness, ultimately impacting plant health and community dynamics. Because seed-associated microbiota are highly variable across individual plants, plant species, and environments, it is challenging to identify the dominant processes that underlie the assembly, composition, and influence of these communities. We propose here that metacommunity ecology provides a conceptually useful framework for studying the microbiota of developing seeds, by the application of metacommunity principles of filtering, species interactions, and dispersal at multiple scales. Many studies in seed microbial ecology already describe individual assembly processes in a pattern-based manner, such as correlating seed microbiome composition with genotype or tracking diversity metrics across treatments in dispersal limitation experiments. But we see a lot of opportunities to examine understudied aspects of seed microbiology, including trait-based research on mechanisms of filtering and dispersal at the micro-scale, the use of pollination exclusion experiments in macro-scale seed studies, and an in-depth evaluation of how these processes interact via priority effect experiments and joint species distribution modeling.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.877519/fullpriority effectsselectiondispersalmetacommunitiesepiphytesendophytes |
| spellingShingle | Gillian E. Bergmann Johan H. J. Leveau A metacommunity ecology approach to understanding microbial community assembly in developing plant seeds Frontiers in Microbiology priority effects selection dispersal metacommunities epiphytes endophytes |
| title | A metacommunity ecology approach to understanding microbial community assembly in developing plant seeds |
| title_full | A metacommunity ecology approach to understanding microbial community assembly in developing plant seeds |
| title_fullStr | A metacommunity ecology approach to understanding microbial community assembly in developing plant seeds |
| title_full_unstemmed | A metacommunity ecology approach to understanding microbial community assembly in developing plant seeds |
| title_short | A metacommunity ecology approach to understanding microbial community assembly in developing plant seeds |
| title_sort | metacommunity ecology approach to understanding microbial community assembly in developing plant seeds |
| topic | priority effects selection dispersal metacommunities epiphytes endophytes |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.877519/full |
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