leaf microbiology

the phyllosphere

The phyllosphere refers to the above-ground parts of plants, primarily leaves, that serve as a habitat for a diverse community of microorganisms. This microbial community is known as the phyllosphere microbiota, and includes bacteria, fungi, yeasts, and even algae. The diversity of microorganisms varies depending on plant species, environmental conditions, geographic location, and seasonal changes.

how do microorganisms assemble into communities?

The assembly of the phyllosphere microbiota is a complex process influenced by biotic, abiotic, and stochastic factors. Leaves provide nutrients to bacteria on the surface, but at the same time the leaf characteristics render a water and space-limited environment for microorganisms to proliferate. Due to this, it is expected that microbial interactions (e.g. resource competition) are key drivers of community assembly.

During my PhD, I focused on the effect of competition in the spatial distribution of bacterial populations in the phyllosphere of Arabidopsis thaliana. I looked at these populations using fluorescence tagging and single-cell analyses to detect how individual cells are arranged along the surface, and with the help of a biosensor, how populations grow and are influenced by competitors.

bacterial diversity

Bacterial diversity positively impacts on plant productivity. How? is the question I’m currently working on. Through SynCom design, amplicon sequencing, transcriptomics, and transposon insertion sequencing; I want to understand what traits are important for living in the phyllosphere, what’s the trait diversity landscape within bacterial communities, and how bacterial functional diversity can influence plant processes such as growth and tolerance to stress.

techniques

  • Molecular cloning
  • Fluorescence microscopy
  • Single-cell analysis
  • Spatial point pattern analysis
  • Genomics
  • Metabolic modelling
  • 16S amplicon sequencing
  • RNAseq
  • Tn-Seq
  1. Schlechter, R. O., & Remus-Emsermann, M. N. P. (2025). Differential Responses of Methylobacterium and Sphingomonas Species to Multispecies Interactions in the Phyllosphere. Environmental Microbiology, 27(1), e70025. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.70025
  2. Schlechter, R. O., & Remus-Emsermann, M. N. P. (2023). Bacterial community complexity in the phyllosphere penalises specialists over generalists. BioRxiv, 2023.11.08.566251. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.11.08.566251
  3. Schlechter, R. O., Kear, E. J., Bernach, M., Remus, D. M., & Remus-Emsermann, M. N. P. (2023). Metabolic resource overlap impacts competition among phyllosphere bacteria. ISME J., 17(9), 1445–1454. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-023-01459-0
  4. Miebach, M., Schlechter, R. O., Clemens, J., Jameson, P. E., & Remus-Emsermann, M. N. P. (2020). Litterbox-A gnotobiotic Zeolite-Clay System to Investigate Arabidopsis-Microbe Interactions. Microorganisms, 8(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8040464
  5. Schlechter, R. O., Miebach, M., & Remus-Emsermann, M. N. P. (2019). Driving factors of epiphytic bacterial communities: A review. J. Advert. Res., 19, 57–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2019.03.003
  6. Remus-Emsermann, M. N. P., & Schlechter, R. O. (2018). Phyllosphere microbiology: at the interface between microbial individuals and the plant host. New Phytol., 218(4), 1327–1333. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15054