Analysis on Phyllosphere Bacterial Community Structure and Diversity of Three Garden Plants in Niche Area

Objective The study was conducted to explore the phyllosphere bacterial community structure and diversity of landscaping plants in the niche, and to understand the effects of similar environmental conditions and plant characteristics on microbial community in the niche, with a view to provide references for the health management of garden plants and the exploitation of phyllosphere bacterial resources.

Method High-throughput sequencing technology was applied to explore the bacterial community structure and diversity of Eriobotyra japonica, Magnolia grandiflora and Ficus altissima leaves facing east within 50 m radius circle of Dali University campus.

Result Among the three garden plants, E. japonica had the highest phyllosphere bacterial diversity, followed by M. grandiflora and F. altissima. The dominant bacterial phylum of phyllosphere bacteria in different plants was Proteobacteria, and the first dominant bacterial genus was different. However, the top five dominant genera were Sphingopyxis, Methylobacterium, Spirosoma, Hymenobacter and Achromobacter. There were significant differences in phyllosphere bacterial community structure among the three plants, but the bacterial communities were similar among the leaves with different sizes of the same plant. Only E. japonica and M. grandiflora leaves had the largest phylum and genus distribution, indicating that the phyllosphere bacterial communities of evergreen broad-leaved plants was more diverse and complex than those of deciduous broad-leaved plants.

Conclusion There were differences in the composition and diversity of phyllosphere bacterial communities among different plants, and the primary reasons for these differences were the characteristics of the plants themselves. Therefore, it is urgent to strengthen the researches on the utilization of phyllosphere bacterial resources of plants.