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Phytobiomes Journal

@phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social

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Phytobiomes Journal (est. 2016) is a gold open access journal from The American Phytopathological Society, publishing research on plant-associated organisms and ecosystems.

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Phytobiomes Journal @phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social · 1d

Editor’s Pick: “Bacterial Auxin Production in the Phyllosphere,” by Lorena I. Rangel et al. Read the article in Volume 9, Number 3 of Phytobiomes Journal: https://doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-02-25-0010-R

Fig. 4.
Phylogenetic tree based on the alignment of partial 16S rRNA gene sequences from the 235 bacterial isolates that were collected from lettuce leaf samples at 38 or 67 days after planting (dap). Clades are colored according to taxon membership, down to the genus level, as per alignment with RDP type strains. An open circle next to the name of an isolate indicates that the isolate came from a 67-dap leaf sample. A black dot indicates that the isolate tested as a high producer of indole-3-acetic acid.

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Phytobiomes Journal @phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social · 8d

Editor’s Pick: Terrence H. Bell et al. believe that there is no single “best” approach to iterative microbiome passaging but that experimental design choices can have substantial impacts on outcomes. Learn more: https://doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-11-24-0113-P

Fig. 1.
Here, we visualize how the impact of iterative microbiome passaging may differ with time.

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Phytobiomes Journal @phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social · 14d

Silvia Talavera-Marcos et al. examined tomato rhizosphere microbiome assembly and potential composition–function links using a framework based on phylogenetically constrained microbial community assembly. https://doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-10-24-0098-SC

Coupled Phylogenetic and Functional Enrichment in the Tomato Rhizosphere Microbiome | Phytobiomes Journal

Plant–microbe interactions occur mainly in the rhizosphere, a hot spot of microbial activity and diversity, and the outcome of these interactions can significantly affect plant productivity. A better understanding of the rhizosphere microbiome is, there...

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Phytobiomes Journal @phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social · 21d

Mingming Yang et al. identified the seasonal and long-term population dynamics of root-associated bacterial communities over 8 years in monocropped wheat grown in adjacent dryland and irrigated plots in the low-precipitation region of Washington State: https://doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-02-24-0028-R

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Phytobiomes Journal @phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social · May 19

While investigating cotton leafroll dwarf virus in Mississippi,
Michael West-Ortiz et al. identified a novel virus, cotton virus A (CotVA), in Gossypium plants. Learn more: doi.org/10.1094/PBIO...

Predicted structural comparisons of cotton virus A (CotVA) open reading frames (ORFs) 2 and 4. A, Top: comparison of AlphaFold 3 (AF3) prediction (turquoise) over the Protein Data Bank crystal structure (3K4T, orange) of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) virion-associated protein (VAP). Bottom: structural alignment of the AF3 prediction of the CaMV VAP (white) with the AF3 prediction of CotVA ORF4 (colored). B, Same as A but seen from the bottom. C, Comparison of hydrophobicity of CaMV VAP (top), and the predicted hydrophobicity of CotVA ORF4 (bottom). D, Structural alignment of AF3 prediction of Cestrum yellow leaf curling virus (CmYLCV) aphid transmission factor (ATF) (white) to CotVA ORF2 (colored). Confidence in the predictions is measured in the B-factor field (temperature factor) colored from low confidence (cold colors) to high confidence (warm colors).

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Anna E. Whitfield @aewtospo.bsky.social · Apr 4

Another great paper in the Phytovirome special issue! Ecological Connectivity of Plant Communities for Red Blotch Disease Dynamics Revealed by the Dietary Profiles and Landscape-Level Movement of Spissistilus festinus | Phytobiomes Journal apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/...

Ecological Connectivity of Plant Communities for Red Blotch Disease Dynamics Revealed by the Dietary Profiles and Landscape-Level Movement of Spissistilus festinus | Phytobiomes Journal

The epidemiological relationship between arthropod dispersal and plant communities is poorly understood at the landscape level. We investigated the connectivity of natural and cultivated plants in vin...

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Anna E. Whitfield @aewtospo.bsky.social · Apr 3

The Phytovirome | Phytobiomes Journal apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/full/10..... Schönegger et al. (2025) found that wild carrots harbored a greater diversity of virus taxa relative to farmed carrots and documented key differences in the virus communities of each host type.

The Phytovirome | Phytobiomes Journal

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Phytobiomes Journal @phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social · Mar 21

Classical approaches to plant disease diagnosis assume one pathogen per disease. Betsy A. Alford et al. reexamine Fusarium oxysporum’s presumed role in chickpea wilt/yellowing on Ethiopian smallholder farms. Learn more: doi.org/10.1094/PBIO...

Geographic distribution and relative abundance of Silhouette clusters among symptomatic plants. Sampling depth at each site is indicated by the size of the circle. Indicator amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) are listed for each Silhouette cluster according to Figure 3 and Supplementary Table S7.

Phytobiomes Journal @phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social · Feb 25

Microbial communities support plant health but engineering them for pest resistance is complex. Using host-guided selection, Laramy Enders et al. reduced aphid damage on tomatoes by up to 20%, revealing key insights. Learn more: doi.org/10.1094/PBIO...

Comparison of microbial co-occurrence and network attributes associated with rhizospheres of infested versus uninfested plants across selection regimes and generations. Network attributes (e.g., average degree, modularity, # connector taxa, etc.) of each of the 21 networks, separated by insect treatment, are shown on the right. Bonferroni-adjusted results of six t tests comparing network attributes between aphid-infested and uninfested groups are inset within each top right panel (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01), and the results of a generalized linear model of the number of connector taxa between insect treatments are presented in the bottom right panel (***P < 0.001).

Phytobiomes Journal @phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social · Feb 11

SynCom studies need seed sterilization to ensure gnotobiotic conditions. J. Jacob Parnell et al. tested six protocols on two maize varieties, finding sterilization requirements depend on genotype and seed source. doi.org/10.1094/PBIO...

Six seed sterilization protocols tested on two varieties of maize. A, Examples of clean dead (top left), contaminated dead (top right), contaminated germinant (bottom left), and clean germinant (bottom right) B73 seeds. B, Overview of the six sterilization protocols used. Percentage of seeds that germinated and/or were contaminated with fungal growth for C, B73 seeds and D, Sugar Bun seeds for each of the different protocol variations. Letters indicate significant differences for clean germinants (Tukey honestly significant difference, P value < 0.05).

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Morgan Carter @morgancarterphd.bsky.social · Feb 10

Incredibly proud to say that my first (mini)review and the first paper from only the Carter Lab is out now in @phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social!

Kudos to grad student Dallas Moses for pulling together disparate studies on endohyphal bacteria in a focused way.

apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/...

A Plant Health View on Endohyphal Bacteria and Their Fungal Hosts | Phytobiomes Journal

Microbe-microbe interactions within the phytobiome, including those between endosymbiotic bacteria and their fungal hosts, influence plant health outcomes. Endohyphal bacteria (EHB) can modulate the v...

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Phytobiomes Journal @phytobiomesjournal.bsky.social · Jan 7

In Western France, rapeseed fields with reduced Phelipanche ramosa parasitism showed fungal-driven suppression. Suppressive soils hinder attachment and induce necrosis, with Berkeleyomyces linked to the effect. Lisa Martinez et al. highlight potential control strategies. doi.org/10.1094/PBIO...

Influence of soil extracts on the stimulatory effect on broomrape seeds. A, Relative germination ratios of broomrape seeds in presence of the conducive (CN) or suppressive (SN) soil extracts, either unfiltered or 0.22-µm-filtered at 101- or 102-fold dilutions, and in the presence, or not, of gluconasturtiin (10−6 M). Ratios are expressed as the number of germinated seeds on total seeds relative to the average ratio obtained with the positive control rac-GR24 (10−7 M), a synthetic strigolactone giving a positive germination ratio of 1 ≈ 65.20 ± 6.32% (median ± sd). B, Relative prehaustorium formation ratio of broomrape seeds in presence of the CN or SN soil extracts either 0.22-µm-filtered or unfiltered and at 101 or 102 dilutions. Ratios are expressed as the number of germinated seeds presenting prehaustoria on total germinated seeds relative to the average ratio obtained with the positive control TDZ (10−8 M), a synthetic analog of cytokinin, giving a positive prehaustorium formation ratio of 1 ≈ 95.33 ± 5.33% (median ± sd). Significance was determined using a nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis rank test and Dunn's Kruskal-Wallis multiple comparisons (P ≤ 0.05) and is indicated with different letters.