The rain deposits microbes on plants that are essential for their health which could also represent an advantage in agriculture
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himRain deposits microbes that are essential for their health on plants which, if studied, could also represent an advantage in agriculture
When it rains, plants are not only affected by drops of water, but also by hundreds of microbes born in the rain that end up becoming an integral part of the terrestrial microbial community - called philosphere. Phyllosphere microbes protect plants from diseases and other factors that can harm them, and understanding where they come from and how they work can be very helpful in improving plant health.
Indeed, while plant microbiome studies have so far focused on soil and seeds, now new research conducted by Virginia Tech University suggests that rain also constitutes a very important reservoir of microbes. The researchers observed a higher density of microbes on the leaves of some tomato plants exposed to rain than those grown in the laboratory, and conducted some tests to determine whether it was the microbes born in the rain that colonized the phyllosphere of the plants in question. .
While this is a fairly simple question, it is actually difficult to answer because plants in the wild are exposed to numerous bacterial colonies that also come from the air and soil - therefore, isolating rain bacteria is complicated. Furthermore, even though rain contains important microbes, the quantities could be limited - a cubic millimeter of rain could contain even a few microbial cells.
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To isolate the microbial communities of rain and inoculate the bacteria born in rainwater into plants in the laboratory, the researchers collected rain and filtered it to obtain sterilized water and isolate the microbes. This microbe-enriched water was then vaporized onto the plants grown in the laboratory.
The results of the experiment conducted by the scientists showed that inoculating plants with microbial communities contained in rainwater increased the presence of bacteria (more than 100 bacterial communities) - indicating that rain microbes can successfully colonize plants and grow on their surface. This suggests the important role of rainwater as a reservoir for phyllosphere bacteria.
The authors of the study are confident that this research could lead to further investigations into the origin of microorganisms associated with plants and distributed by rain: the more we know about bacteria, the better we can use them to our advantage to improve plant health. For example, bacteria that destroy plant pathogens could be sprayed on the leaves instead of chemical pesticides in the interests of more sustainable agriculture.
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Fonte: Phytobiomes Journal
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