Phytochrome-mediated shade avoidance responses impact the composition of the bacterial phyllosphere microbiome of Arabidopsis

The shade avoidance response triggers a dramatic promotion of elongation growth, accompanied by a significant reprogramming of metabolic pathways as plants seek to prevent overtopping and adapt to vegetative shade. Here we investigated whether simulated vegetative shade results in changes in the structure and composition of the phyllosphere bacterial microbiome.