Abstract Detail

Symbioses: Plant, Animal, and Microbe Interactions

Carper, Dana [1], Carrell, Alyssa [2], Kueppers, Lara [3], Frank, A. Carolin [4].

The effect of climate change and site on the above- and belowground bacterial endophytic communities of subalpine conifer seedlings.

Climate warming is expected to drive uphill shifts in the distribution of subalpine forests, with seedling establishment presenting a critical bottleneck for migration and persistence. The plant microbiome, all the microorganisms living on or inside plants, plays a role in plant response to biotic and abiotic stress, yet is rarely considered in studies that examine how plants respond to climate change. Seedling endophyte communities may dynamically respond to environmental conditions, potentially aiding seedling establishment under a range of conditions. Alternatively, endophyte communities may be strongly conserved across environmental conditions if the taxa perform critical metabolic or physiological functions required by establishing seedlings.
To determine the effects of climate change on seedling microbiomes across and beyond the elevation range of subalpine forest, we used Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to examine the above- and belowground endophytic communities in 1-year old seedlings of Pinus flexilis (limber pine) establishing in common gardens subject to experimental climate manipulations.
The most abundant members of both root- and shoot communities were identical to strains with antifungal activity (e.g., Janthinobacterium and Massilia), perhaps suggesting a role in protecting seedlings against biotic stress. We found that the root and shoot communities were significantly different in their diversity and taxonomic composition, and that they responded differently to biotic and abiotic differences between forest and higher elevation sites, as well as to climate treatments. This potentially reflects differences in adaptation and colonization routes between root and shoot endophytes, and suggests that if they are significant for seedling establishment under climate change, shoot and root communities could play distinct roles.

1 - University of California, Merced , Life and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, 5200 North Lake Rd, Merced, CA, 95343, USA
2 - Duke University, Biology, 2127 Campus Drive, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
3 - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, 1 Cyclotron Rd, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
4 - University of California Merced, Life and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, 5200 North Lake Rd, Merced, CA, 95343, USA

Keywords:
Endophytes
global change
Symbiosis
Next generation sequencing
Pinus flexilis.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Symbioses: Plant, Animal, and Microbe Interactions Posters
Location: Exhibit Hall/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 1st, 2016
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 5:30 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PSB001
Abstract ID:108
Candidate for Awards:None