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Abstract:
Plant-microbe associations are thought to be beneficial for plant growth and resistance
against biotic or abiotic stresses, but for natural ecosystems, the ecological analysis of microbiome
function remains in its infancy. We used transformed wild tobacco plants (Nicotiana attenuata) which
constitutively express an antimicrobial peptide (Mc-AMP1) of the common ice plant, to establish
an ecological tool for plant-microbe studies in the field. Transgenic plants showed in planta activity
against plant-beneficial bacteria and were phenotyped within the plants´ natural habitat regarding
growth, fitness and the resistance against herbivores. Multiple field experiments, conducted over 3
years, indicated no differences compared to isogenic controls. Pyrosequencing analysis of the root-associated
microbial communities showed no major alterations but marginal effects at the genus level.
Experimental infiltrations revealed a high heterogeneity in peptide tolerance among native isolates
and suggests that the diversity of natural microbial communities can be a major obstacle for microbiome manipulations in nature.
