The core taxa connectivity in leaf microbiomes in ash trees stands is modulated by host-related and environmental factors.
7 affiliations
- 1Microbial Biogeochemistry, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany. [email protected].
- 2Thaer-Institute, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany. [email protected].
- 3Microbial Biogeochemistry, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany.
- 4Physical Geography/Landscape Ecology and Sustainable Ecosystem Development, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Eichstätt, Germany.
- 5Department of Forest Ecology and Monitoring (LFE), State Forestry Institute Brandenburg, Eberswalde, Germany.
- 6Thaer-Institute, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
- 7Microbial Biogeochemistry, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany. [email protected].
Abstract
Background
Forests cover large areas of the terrestrial land surface and play a key role in climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. Tree-associated microbial communities are integral components of forest ecosystems and contribute to plant functioning, stress tolerance, and interactions with the environment. However, the factors shaping the phyllosphere microbiome of forest trees across large environmental gradients remain less explored. Here, we investigated the bacterial leaf microbiome of Fraxinus excelsior across different climatic regions in Germany to identify its core microbiome and determine the relative importance of environmental and host-related factors shaping the phyllosphere microbiome of forest trees across large environmental gradients assembly. Therefore, 30 ash trees were sampled at each of the 12 sites across Germany, at which we assessed their leaf microbiome, leaf physio-chemical properties and a set of site parameters.Results
In total, 755 genera were detected. Only three genera Hymenobacter, Massilia and Sphingomonas were predominant across all sites. Geographical position, precipitation, tree age and the leaf and soil chemistry parameters were significant factors that explained 22.1% of variance between microbiome structures between the different sites. Seven genera were identified as the core leave microbiome of F. excelsior. The core microbiome assessed for each sampling site was mostly more diverse and differed between sites. Complex co-occurrence networks separated by sites with the identified six hub bacterial taxa proved that they were essential for the local core microbiomes. However, the network complexity differed significantly between the sampling sites.Conclusion
Our findings clearly indicate the existence of an ash core microbiome on leaves that occurred at all sites but was locally differently interconnected to further microbiome members. The network analyses revealed that less frequent genera play important roles as hub taxa. Furthermore, we were also able to prove the modulating role of biotic and abiotic factors on the ash phyllosphere microbiome. An optimized core microbiome may be considered crucial for improving tolerance against plant diseases, such as ash dieback, in future.
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BibTeX
@article{burghard2026core,
title = {{The core taxa connectivity in leaf microbiomes in ash trees stands is modulated by host-related and environmental factors.}},
author = {Valentin Burghard and Sonja Wende and Georgia Kahlenberg and Henriette Häuser and Ralf Kätzel and Steffen Kolb and Andreas Ulrich},
journal = {Environmental microbiome},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1186/s40793-026-00967-8},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42850677},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The core taxa connectivity in leaf microbiomes in ash trees stands is modulated by host-related and environmental factors.
AU - Valentin Burghard
AU - Sonja Wende
AU - Georgia Kahlenberg
AU - Henriette Häuser
AU - Ralf Kätzel
AU - Steffen Kolb
AU - Andreas Ulrich
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Environmental microbiome
DO - 10.1186/s40793-026-00967-8
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42850677
AB - Background Forests cover large areas of the terrestrial land surface and play a key role in climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. Tree-associated microbial communities are integral components of forest ecosystems and contribute to plant functioning, stress tolerance, and interactions with the environment. However, the factors shaping the phyllosphere microbiome of forest trees across large environmental gradients remain less explored. Here, we investigated the bacterial leaf microbiome of Fraxinus excelsior across different climatic regions in Germany to identify its core microbiome and determine the relative importance of environmental and host-related factors shaping the phyllosphere microbiome of forest trees across large environmental gradients assembly. Therefore, 30 ash trees were sampled at each of the 12 sites across Germany, at which we assessed their leaf microbiome, leaf physio-chemical properties and a set of site parameters.Results In total, 755 genera were detected. Only three genera Hymenobacter, Massilia and Sphingomonas were predominant across all sites. Geographical position, precipitation, tree age and the leaf and soil chemistry parameters were significant factors that explained 22.1% of variance between microbiome structures between the different sites. Seven genera were identified as the core leave microbiome of F. excelsior. The core microbiome assessed for each sampling site was mostly more diverse and differed between sites. Complex co-occurrence networks separated by sites with the identified six hub bacterial taxa proved that they were essential for the local core microbiomes. However, the network complexity differed significantly between the sampling sites.Conclusion Our findings clearly indicate the existence of an ash core microbiome on leaves that occurred at all sites but was locally differently interconnected to further microbiome members. The network analyses revealed that less frequent genera play important roles as hub taxa. Furthermore, we were also able to prove the modulating role of biotic and abiotic factors on the ash phyllosphere microbiome. An optimized core microbiome may be considered crucial for improving tolerance against plant diseases, such as ash dieback, in future.
SN - 2524-6372
ER -