Structure and function of epispheric microbial communities from Warszawa, Bialowieza and Bóbrka

Air pollution constitutes a major problem in most urban areas. According to recent data, more people die from exposure to air pollution than from malaria and HIV infection together. Many years of research show that plant–microbe interactions can be exploited to significantly enhance phytoremediation of contaminated environments. Microorganisms living at the aboveground part of plants (the episphere) constitute promising candidates to detoxify airborne pollutants and promote plant growth. Shotgun metagenomics was employed to characterize the structure and function of epispheric microbial communities. Leaves were sampled at three different sites in Poland, (i) a high-traffic microenvironment in Warszawa, (ii) a unique oil-emerging site in Bóbrka and (iii) a remaining part of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the Great European Plain in Bialowieza.