Plant phenotypic differentiation outweighs genetic variation in shaping the lettuce leaf microbiota.

ABSTRACT: Lettuce, a widely consumed raw vegetable, harbors leaf-associated microbial communities whose understanding and prediction are crucial for plant and human health. While environmental factors are known to strongly influence plant leaf microbiomes, the role of plant-specific determinants in shaping microbial diversity remains unclear. In this study, we investigated how three key plant factors -genetic distance, plant variety and leaf micro- and macronutrient content- influence the composition and diversity of lettuce leaf bacterial communities, by analyzing 131 fully-sequenced Lactuca sativa genotypes via 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Our findings revealed that variety, as defined by breeders, exerts a greater influence on bacterial community diversity than genetic distance or variations in

SUBMITTER: Capparotto A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12931058 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature