Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Plant-inhabiting microorganisms interact directly with each other affecting disease progression.
However, the role of host plant and plant habitat in shaping pathobiome composition and their
implication for host susceptibility/resistance to a particular disease are currently unknown. For the
elucidation of these questions, both epiphytic and endophytic bacterial communities, present in
asymptomatic and symptomatic twigs from olive cultivars displaying different susceptibilities to olive
knot (OK) disease, were investigated using culturing methods. OK disease was the main driver of the
bacterial community, causing changes on their diversity, abundance and composition. OK disease effect
was most notorious on OK-susceptible cultivar and when considering the endophytic communities.
Plant habitat (epiphytes vs. endophytes) also contributed to the bacterial community assembling, in
particular on symptomatic twigs (knots) of OK-susceptible cultivar. In contrast, host cultivar had little
effect on the bacterial community composition, but OK-symptomatic twigs (knots) revealed to be more
affected by this driver. Overall, the pathobiome seems to result from an intricate interaction between
the pathogen, the resident bacteria, and the plant host. Specific bacterial genera were associated to
the presence or absence of OK disease in each cultivar. Their ability to trigger and/or suppress disease
should be studied in the future.
Description
Keywords
Pseudomonas syringae Leaves Savastanoi pv
Citation
Mina, Diogo; Pereira, José Alberto; Lino-Neto, Teresa; Baptista, Paula (2020). Impact of plant genotype and plant habitat in shaping bacterial pathobiome: a comparative study in olive tree. Scientific Reports. ISSN 2045-2322. 10:1, p. 1-11