Functional gene categories differentiate maize leaf drought-related microbial epiphytic communities

The phyllosphere epiphytic microbiome is composed of microorganisms that colonize the external aerial portions of plants. Relationships of plant responses to specific microorganisms–both pathogenic and beneficial–have been examined, but the phyllosphere microbiome functional and metabolic profile responses are not well described. Changing crop growth conditions, such as increased drought, can have profound impacts on crop productivity. Also, epiphytic microbial communities provide a new target for crop yield optimization. We compared Zea mays leaf microbiomes collected under drought and well-watered conditions by examining functional gene annotation patterns across three physically disparate locations each with and without drought treatment, through the application of short read metagenomic sequencing. Drought samples exhibited different functional sequence compositions at each of the three field sites. Maize phyllosphere functional profiles revealed a wide variety of metabolic and regu...叶围附生微生物组（phyllosphere epiphytic microbiome）由定殖于植物外部气生部位的微生物组成。学界已针对植物与特定微生物（含致病与有益微生物）之间的响应互作开展了诸多研究，但针对叶围微生物组的功能与代谢谱响应的系统阐释仍较为匮乏。作物生长条件的改变（如干旱加剧）可对作物生产力产生深远影响。此外，附生微生物群落为作物产量优化提供了全新的调控靶点。本研究采用短读长宏基因组测序（short read metagenomic sequencing）技术，对三个地理分隔的试验田分别设置干旱处理与正常供水两组对照，对比分析了不同处理下玉蜀黍（Zea mays，玉米）的叶围微生物组功能基因注释特征。结果显示，三个田间位点的干旱处理样品均呈现出独特的功能序列组成。玉米叶围微生物组的功能谱展现出丰富多样的代谢与调控……