A new study has shown that trees have a rich and different microbiom inside the tights of their tree, such as humans do in our body.
An average tree consists of about 1 trillion microbe cells, what was according to data obtained from a sample of DNA of 150 trees.Published in the journal Nature,
It was found that healthy trees contain separate microbiomes that are specific to different parts of the tree and rich in fungi, bacteria and viruses. The author believes that thesis can play an important role in the health of the tree.
“Our studies suggest that the species of each tree hosts its own crisis microbial community that has developed with the tree,” said John Givertzman, co-writer at the Yale University, US.
The KT Field, a plant biologist at Sheffield University, UK, who was not involved in research, said “how we look at trees – not only as standalone organisms, but also as complex, integrated ecosystems, including a huge network of microbial life.”
“In the same way that human microbiomes are important for our health, this work shows that we may need to start thinking about trees equally. It opens a full new limit for environmental micro -biology, forest science and even biotechnology,” Field told DW.
1 trillion microbe by tree
Gynecos are an important part of the life of the plant. The discovery of a ‘wood-wide web’-e network that connects fungal filaments and tree roots under the leadership of underground soils with the idea that other organisms assist in plant growth and protect against pathways.
But very rarely known about germs living under healthy wood.
“3 trillion trees on Earth represent the world’s largest pool, most of which host unique ecosystems that we have never studied,” Gewirtzman said.
Researchers determined to study the microbiom of trees in the Yale-Myers Forest in the US. He took several samples from 150 trees in 16 species, including oak, maple and pines.
So take soil samples.
They extracted DNA from wood and analyzed data for evidence of DNA from bacteria, fungi and virus.
They found that trees have a large number of different microbe species – a microbe for every 20 plant cells.
It translates between 100 trillion and 1 trillion microbial cells on average, which is still less than 39 trillions inside humans.
“This study provides some obvious evidence to date that the wood of living trees host different and customized microbiomes, which is different from the roots, leaves, or tree roots,” the field said.
Wood microbioms are special
The microbe was not even distributed through the tree – special microbial communities were present in different parts of wood.
Inner heartwood and external sapwood consisted of completely different microbial communities. The intensive heartwood was dominated by the microbes that do not require oxygen, while sapwood included more oxygen-existing microbes.
Various microbiomes were found in various tree species. For example, maple trees had a high abundance of germs that specializes in breaking the sugars.
Further experiments showed that various communities changed gas concentrations inside Thesis Woods.
Does Trees affect microbiome forest health?
Is the thesis particular microbiome affect the health of the hosts of their tree, it is not clear. To understand more studies require how microbiomes affect the forest health, but the authors believe that there is a link.
“We know that some microbes have promoted growth in some model plants, including major grain crops and chinar trees, but all are thousands. [of microbes] That we do not know this task, “Gewirtzman told DW via email.
New questions can be revealed in the study. For the field, this involves examining the roles of microbiome in the aging, defense and decay of the tree.
“So it is likely to find out that managing or modifying wood microbiomes can help forest microbiomes to help in impregnation flexibility or carbon cycling,” said the field.
Gewirtzman suggests that this large picture may answer questions about how climate change affects trees, or whether the tree’s microbiom can be deployed for other purposes.
“Climate change thesis how will the internal ecosystem and forest health affect? And can we exploit the thesis microbes for new forest management or biotechnology applications?”
But Michael Kohlar, a botanist from Martin Luther University Halle-Vintberg, Germany, reported that it is very early for a group of guirtezmen, which begins to monitor the microbiom of the tree to measure climate effects and forest health.
“We are investigating this at the moment – how climate change is affecting seedlings in the microbiome and grasslands of the seed,” he told DW.
Edited by: MW Agius
