Endophytic bacterial communities in Piper longum spikes

The female spikes (the inflorescence) of Piper longum, commonly known as pippali, is widely used in treating respiratory and digestive disorders. The female spikes of P. longum are rich in pharmacologically active amide alkaloids, mainly piperine and piperlongumine. Among the various stages of spike development, the dark green mature stage (which coincides with high piperine content) represents the economically important part of the plant. The present study investigates the microbial communities associated with different stages of spike development, representing early (SI), mid (SII) and late stages (SIII), by 16S rRNA gene metagenomic analyses.