Surface Canopy Position Determines the Photosystem II Photochemistry in Invasive and Native Prosopis Congeners at Sharjah Desert, UAE

Temporal and Spatial Changes in Phyllosphere Microbiome of Acacia Trees Growing in Arid Environments

Background: The evolutionary relationships between plants and their microbiomes are of high importance to the survival of plants in general and even more in extreme conditions. Changes in the plant's microbiome can affect plant development, growth, fitness, and health. Along the arid Arava, southern Israel, acacia trees (Acacia raddiana and Acacia tortilis) are considered keystone species. In this study, we investigated the ecological effects of plant species, microclimate, phenology, and seasonality on the epiphytic and endophytic microbiome of acacia trees. One hundred thirty-nine leaf samples were collected throughout the sampling year and were assessed using 16S rDNA gene amplified with five different primers (targeting different gene regions) and sequenced (150 bp paired-end) on an Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform. Results: Epiphytic bacterial diversity indices (Shannon-Wiener, Chao1, Simpson, and observed number of operational taxonomic units) were found to be nearly double compared to endophyte counterparts. Epiphyte and endophyte communities were significantly different from each other in terms of the composition of the microbial associations. Interestingly, the epiphytic bacterial diversity was similar in the two acacia species, but the canopy sides and sample months exhibited different diversity, whereas the endophytic bacterial communities were different in the two acacia species but similar throughout the year. Abiotic factors, such as air temperature and precipitation, were shown to significantly affect both epiphyte and endophytes communities. Bacterial community compositions showed that Firmicutes dominate A. raddiana, and Proteobacteria dominate A. tortilis; these bacterial communities consisted of only a small number of bacterial families, mainly Bacillaceae and Comamonadaceae in the endophyte for A. raddiana and A. tortilis, respectively, and Geodematophilaceae and Micrococcaceae for epiphyte bacterial communities, respectively. Interestingly, ~60% of the obtained bacterial classifications were unclassified below family level (i.e., "new"). Conclusions: These results shed light on the unique desert phyllosphere microbiome highlighting the importance of multiple genotypic and abiotic factors in shaping the epiphytic and endophytic microbial communities. This study also shows that only a few bacterial families dominate both epiphyte and endophyte communities, highlighting the importance of climate change (precipitation, air temperature, and humidity) in affecting arid land ecosystems where acacia trees are considered keystone species.

Global Invasion Risk Assessment of Prosopis juliflora at Biome Level: Does Soil Matter?

Prosopis juliflora is one of the most problematic invasive trees in tropical and subtropical regions. Understanding driving forces affecting the potential global distribution would help in managing its current and future spread. The role of climate on the global spatial distribution of P. juliflora has been well studied, but little is known about the role of soil and human impacts as potential drivers. Here, we used maximum entropy (MaxEnt) for species distribution modelling to understand the role of climate (C), soil (S) and human impacts (H), C+S, and C+S+H in controlling the potential invasion range of P. juliflora, and to project its global potential invasive risk. We defined the top threatened global biomes, as predicted by the best-selected model. The incorporation of the edaphic factors improved the model performance and enhanced the accuracy of the outcome. Our findings revealed that the potential invasion risk increases with increases in mean temperature of the driest quarter (Bio9), soil alkalinity and clay fractions. Arid and semi-arid lands are at the highest risk of invasion than other moist biomes.

Secondary Metabolites, Ferulic Acid and p-Hydroxybenzoic Acid Induced Toxic Effects on Photosynthetic Process in Rumex acetosa L

The elimination of broadleaf weeds from agricultural fields has become an urgent task in plant and environment protection. Allelopathic control is considered a potential approach because of its exclusive and ecological safety measures. Plant secondary metabolites also called allelochemicals are released from plant leaves, roots, stem, bark, flowers and play significant roles in soil rhizosphere signaling, chemical ecology, and plant defense. The present study was carried out to evaluate the impact of two allelochemicals; ferulic acid (FA) and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (pHBA) on photosynthetic characteristics; F_v/F_m: efficiency of photosystem II photochemistry in the dark-adapted state; ΦPSII: photosynthetic quantum yield; NPQ, non-photochemical quenching; qP, photochemical quenching, and photon energy dissipation (1−qP)/NPQ in Rumex acetosa following 6 days exposure. R. acetosa seedlings were grown in perlite culture, irrigated with Hoagland solution and treated with allelopathic compounds FA and pHBA and were evaluated against the photosynthetic attributes. Both compounds behaved as potent inhibitors of photosynthetic traits such as F_v/F_m, ΦPSII, qP, and NPQ in R. acetosa. Photon energy dissipation (1−qP)/NPQ increased significantly from days 3 to 6. Higher dissipation of absorbed energy indicates the inactivation state of reaction centers and their inability to effectively use the absorbed energy in photosynthesis. These results indicated the potential allelopathic application of FA and pHBA for control of broadleaf weed, Rumex acetosa.

Allelopathic Potential of Aqueous Extract from Acacia melanoxylon R. Br. on Lactuca sativa

We studied the polyphenol (phenolic compounds and flavonoids) composition and allelopathic effects of Acacia melanoxylon R. Br. aerial foliage aqueous extract (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) on the seedling growth and plant biomass of the general biotest species, lettuce (Lactuca sativa). Mean leaf fresh weight, leaf dry weight, root fresh weight and root dry weight were decreased following exposure to Acacia aerial foliage, flowers aqueous extract (AFE) and phyllodes aqueous extract (APE) after 6 days. The reduction in plant dry biomass was more than 50% following treatment with AFE. The decrease in mean root length was approximately 37.7% and 29.20% following treatment with Acacia flowers extract (AFE) at 75% and 100% concentration, respectively. Root dry weight of L. sativa was reduced by both flowers and phyllodes extract. The reduction of protein contents in lettuce leaves following Acacia foliage extract proved that both AFE and APE exhibit polyphenols that causes the toxicity which led to decrease in leaf protein contents. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was employed to analyze the A. melanoxylon flowers and phyllodes. A total of 13 compounds (accounting for most abundant compounds in flowers and phyllodes) include different flavonoids and phenolic compounds. The phytochemical compounds detected were: Gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, vanillic acid, syringic acid, p-coumaric acid, and ferulic acid. The major flavonoid compounds identified include rutin, luteolin, apigenin, and catechin. Allelopathic effects of flower and phyllodes extracts from A. melanoxylon may be due to the presence of above compounds identified by HPLC analysis.