Male and female trees host different microbes living inside their tissues
Mao M, Wu Y, Ye L, Su X, Zhang J
Plant Microbiome
If you've planted a ginkgo, mulberry, or yew, whether you chose a male or female tree may shape the hidden microbes living inside its leaves and bark, not just whether it drops fruit.
Researchers checked the microbes living inside four tree species that come in separate male and female plants: hardy rubber tree, Chinese yew, ginkgo, and white mulberry. Males and females carried different mixes of bacteria and fungi in every species. Males generally had more bacterial variety, and some microbes showed up only in one sex.
Key Findings
Sex significantly influenced bacterial and fungal community assembly in all four species: Eucommia ulmoides, Taxus wallichiana var. mairei, Ginkgo biloba, and Morus alba.
Bacterial diversity (Shannon index) was higher in males than females for E. ulmoides, T. wallichiana var. mairei, and M. alba; Spirochaetota bacteria appeared only in males of E. ulmoides, G. biloba, and M. alba.
Fungal genera Albophoma and Striaticonidium were found only in females across all four species, while dominant groups (Actinobacteriota, Proteobacteria, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota) were shared by both sexes.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Male and female trees of the same species host different communities of microbes living inside their bark and leaves. The pattern held across four unrelated species, so a plant's sex is a reliable factor shaping its internal microbiome.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Impact of plant sex on endophytic microbial diversity and community assembly in dioecious species.
Dioecious plants show marked sexual dimorphism in morphology, physiology, defense, and life-history allocation, yet differences in endophytic microbiomes remain understudied. We compared endophytic...
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Ginkgo is a genus of non-flowering seed plants, assigned to the gymnosperms. The scientific name is also used as the English common name. The order to which the genus belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and Ginkgo is now the only living genus within the orde...