Latitudinal variations in epiphytic bacterial community of a submerged macrophytes

Epiphytic bacterial communities play a regulatory role in biogeochemical carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling and host plant growth. Although their biogeography has been well studied in terrestrial ecosystems, the latitudinal diversity patterns of epiphytic bacterial communities and their implications for cosmopolitan macrophyte production in freshwater ecosystems remain unclear. Here, we conducted a field survey to investigate the latitudinal patterns of bacterial communities colonising the leaf and root surfaces of Myriophyllum spicatum and a surface microbe sterilisation experiment using sediments from high and low latitude regions to verify their causal effects on plant biomass.