Data for: Soil cadmium stress-mediated sexual difference in phyllosphere microbiome and associated pathogen resistance of poplars

Phyllosphere associated microorganisms play a crucial role in protecting plants from diseases, while their composition and diversity are strongly influenced by heavy metal contaminants. As dioecious plants exhibited sexual dimorphism in metal accumulation and tolerance between male and female individuals, in this study we used male and female full-sibs of Populus deltoides to investigate whether the two plant sexes will present sexual differences in phyllosphere microbiome structure and associated pathogen resistance against a leaf pathogenic fungus after soil cadmium (Cd) exposure. We found that Cd-treated male plants grew better and accumulated more leaf Cd than females. Cd stress reduced leaf lesion areas of both plant sexes after leaf pathogen infection, whereas male plants exhibited better resistance than females. More importantly, Cd exposure differentially altered the structure and function of the phyllosphere microbiome of male and female plants, with more abundant ecologically ...