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Bacterial communities associated to above-ground plant parts are crucial for plant health. The composition of bacterial communities associated with above-ground plant parts may be shaped by source communities such as soil bacteria but also by plant traits such as the availability of carbon and nitrogen or the composition of secondary metabolites. Although flowers are directly linked to plant fitness, bacterial colonizers of the anthosphere are less well characterized and their ecological roles are less well understood compared to bacteria associated with leaves.
Additionally, the determinants of their diversity as well as their responses to environmental gradients such as variation in land use intensity are unknown.


By exploiting the hierarchical organization of the Biodiversity Exploratories, we are planning to investigate the organismal and genetic α-, β- and γ- diversity of floral microbiomes as a function of land use, plant diversity, and functional flower traits such as floral scents and the availability of carbon and nitrogen in order to understand links between these different levels of biodiversity.

These data and results will allow us to gauge the relative importance of environmental and plant-based factors. Thus, our results will provide a novel perspective on associations between bacteria and flowers and help to understand effects of anthropogenic alterations of the environment on organismal and genetic diversity.

Picture: The photo shows small plastic cans and containers used in the extraction of sugar compounds and bacterial DNA from the surfaces of flowers and leaves, with long thin wooden sticks stuck in some open containers
Field laboratory work: extraction of sugar compounds and bacterial DNA from flower and leaf surfaces.
Picture: The photo shows a box on a meadow with different containers for sampling scents of flowers and leaves by means of silicone tubes. Behind the box kneels a scientist wearing laboratory gloves and holding tweezers and a sample container in his hands.
Field laboratory work: sampling of flower and leaf scents using silicone tubes
Picture: The photo shows two black music stands set up in an uncut meadow, which have been misappropriated for collecting the scents of flowers and leaves. The trays for the music sheets hang downwards. Roasting hoses made of transparent plastic foil are attached to the braces of the tray with yellow clothespins. Inside the hoses are short pieces of silicone tubing, to the surfaces of which the plant scent molecules adhere
Collection of flower and leaf scents in the field.
Picture: The photo shows on an uncut meadow in the sunshine an erected black music stand, which has been misappropriated for collecting the scents of flowers and leaves. The tray for the sheet music hangs downward. Attached to the struts of the tray with yellow clothespins are roasting tubes made of transparent plastic film. In the tubes are short pieces of silicone tubing, to the surfaces of which the plant scent molecules adhere. In the upper left of the photo, the corner of a fenced climate measurement station juts into the picture. In the background is a meadow on a slope, on which a row of deciduous trees can be seen above.
Collection of flower and leaf scents in the field

Doc
Inter- und intraspezifische phytochemische Variationen korrelieren mit epiphytischen Blüten- und Blattbakteriengemeinschaften
Gaube, P., Marchenko, P., Müller, C., Schweiger, R., Tenhaken, R., Keller, A., Junker, R. R. (2023) Inter- and intraspecific phytochemical variation correlate with epiphytic flower and leaf bacterial communities. Environmental Microbiology 25 (9), 1624-1643. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.16382
More information:  doi.org
Doc
Gaube P., Junker R. R., Keller A. (2021): Changes amid constancy: flower and leaf microbiomes along land use gradients and between bioregions. Basic and Applied Ecology 50, 1-15. doi: 10.1016/j.baae.2020.10.003
More information:  doi.org

Scientific assistants

Prof. Dr. Robert R. Junker
Project manager
Prof. Dr. Robert R. Junker
Philipps-Universität Marburg
Prof. Dr. Alexander Keller
Project manager
Prof. Dr. Alexander Keller
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität - LMU München
Paul Gaube
Paul Gaube
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