Phyllosphere microbiology: a perspective.

Abstract

The field of phyllosphere microbiology is a large one, encompassing such diverse topics as the chemical and physical environment of a diversity of plant surfaces, a description of a wide diversity of inhabitants of plant surfaces, the interactions that such organisms have with the plant and with each other, as well as many other related topics. This overview addresses several different aspects of the field that have been illustrated recently in the literature, as well as the major questions that remain unanswered in the field. By pointing out the many unresolved issues in phyllosphere microbiology, this overview highlights more questions than the areas that have been addressed successfully in new and innovative research. The nature of plant surfaces and the significance of ultraviolet radiation to the composition of microbial communities are described, as well as the roles of water availability on plants; of nutrients in numbers and spatial distribution of microbes on leaves; and of immigration in establishing epiphytic microbial communities.