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Poster

Session: Session 2 Presenting Authors at Posters (Evens)

P-370 - Plant phenotypic differentiation outweighs genetic variation in shaping the lettuce leaf microbiota

Thursday, July 17, 2025
13:30 - 15:15  
Location: Confex Hall 3
Plant microbiota functions and intermicrobial interactions

Lettuce is widely consumed as a raw vegetable, making it essential to understand and predict its leaf-associated microbial communities for both plant and human health. While environmental factors strongly influence plant leaf microbiomes, the role of plant-specific determinants in shaping microbial diversity remains unclear.

To address these knowledge gaps, we examined the impact of three key plant factors—genetic distance, morphology, and leaf elemental content—on the composition and diversity of leaf bacterial communities. Using 131 fully sequenced Lactuca sativa genotypes, we analyzed their leaf-associated bacterial communities through 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing.

Our findings revealed that morphological classification exerts a greater influence on bacterial community diversity than genetic distance or variations in leaf nutrient levels. Along with shoot traits, these factors accounted for 13.9% of the observed bacterial diversity. Further analysis of 10 specific leaf morphological traits showed that heart formation, head height, and venation types significantly shaped bacterial richness and evenness, primarily affecting non-hub members. This discovery has inspired a citizen science project to characterize lettuce leaf microbiota across 100 sites.

These results underscore the strong relationship between leaf morphology and bacterial community structure, suggesting that phenotypic traits play a significant yet understudied role in shaping the leaf microbiota.