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by claude@2026-07, 2026-07-05
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This paper examined whether microbial dispersal from nearby woodland vegetation influences the early phyllosphere epiphytic bacterial communities of corn and soybean, and whether crop leaf microbiomes become denser or more similar to surrounding vegetation near field edges. Using a spatially explicit sampling design with weekly leaf sampling over multiple timepoints (plus younger leaf cohorts at the final timepoint) and paired soil sampling, the authors found that both crop species showed microbiome density gradients and a decay in microbiome similarity to surrounding vegetation within 100 m of field edges at many timepoints. Host plant filtering strength varied by distance, with intermediate to most distant locations showing the highest filtering values, consistent with reduced immigrant inoculum. The authors highlight that the study focuses on epiphytic bacterial assembly in the early growth stages, not broader microbial groups or later plant development. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.
Abstract
Non-crop plants surrounding large plantings of agricultural crops can provide numerous ecological services to adjacent agricultural plants but have rarely been considered as a source of microorganisms during the early stages of their growth. In this study we test whether agricultural plants in close proximity to surrounding woodland habitat fragments develop a denser microbiome than plants farther away, and whether the composition of the crop microbiomes more closely resembles the composition of the surrounding vegetation when in close proximity. During the early stages of development, we sampled epiphytic bacteria from corn and soybean leaves over 4 and 3 weekly sampling timepoints, respectively, using a spatially explicit design, and on the final timepoint for both host species we additionally sampled a younger cohort of leaves. To contextualize the source strength of the surrounding vegetation we also sampled the soil at each sampling location. Both crop species exhibited a microbiome density gradient and a decay of microbiome similarity to surrounding vegetation over a distance of 100 m from the field edges at many timepoints. Phyllosphere microbiome similarity to the soil also tended to increase into the field interior. The strength of host plant microbiome filtering also depended on the proximity to the surrounding vegetation, with intermediate to most distant locations exhibiting the highest values of host filtering, reflecting an apparent decrease in immigrant inoculum. The bacterial communities of younger leaves tended to more closely resemble those of the older surrounding conspecific leaves than either the soil or surrounding woodland vegetation, reflecting the growing dominance of inoculum from within developing crop canopies as plants grew. Overall, our study sheds light on the important role that dispersal of bacteria from nearby leaves can play in phyllosphere microbiome assembly and highlights the diminishing role that soil plays in assembly of phyllosphere microbiomes as plant sources are closer or more abundant.
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Abstract
Non-crop plants surrounding large plantings of agricultural crops can provide numerous ecological services to adjacent agricultural plants but have rarely been considered as a source of microorganisms during the early stages of their growth. In this study we test whether agricultural plants in close proximity to surrounding woodland habitat fragments develop a denser microbiome than plants farther away, and whether the composition of the crop microbiomes more closely resembles the composition of the surrounding vegetation when in close proximity. During the early stages of development, we sampled epiphytic bacteria from corn and soybean leaves over 4 and 3 weekly sampling timepoints, respectively, using a spatially explicit design, and on the final timepoint for both host species we additionally sampled a younger cohort of leaves. To contextualize the source strength of the surrounding vegetation we also sampled the soil at each sampling location. Both crop species exhibited a microbiome density gradient and a decay of microbiome similarity to surrounding vegetation over a distance of 100 m from the field edges at many timepoints. Phyllosphere microbiome similarity to the soil also tended to increase into the field interior. The strength of host plant microbiome filtering also depended on the proximity to the surrounding vegetation, with intermediate to most distant locations exhibiting the highest values of host filtering, reflecting an apparent decrease in immigrant inoculum. The bacterial communities of younger leaves tended to more closely resemble those of the older surrounding conspecific leaves than either the soil or surrounding woodland vegetation, reflecting the growing dominance of inoculum from within developing crop canopies as plants grew. Overall, our study sheds light on the important role that dispersal of bacteria from nearby leaves can play in phyllosphere microbiome assembly and highlights the diminishing role that soil plays in assembly of phyllosphere microbiomes as plant sources are closer or more abundant.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
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