Seasonal Variation Imparts the Shift in Endophytic Bacterial Community Between Mango and its Hemiparasites

The study of community composition and community structure is important to know the ecological behaviour and community dynamics of the participating species and to understand the molecular interplay that lies between them. The community diversity greatly lies in the physiological status of the host and the environmental factors. The present study aims to explore the endophytic bacterial communities and their dynamics in the pre-flowering and post-flowering seasons in the horticulturally important Mango (Mangifera indica L.) and its hemiparasites: Loranthus parasiticus (L.) Marr. and Macrosolen colchinchinensis (Lour.) Tiegh. through a metagenomic approach using the sequence of V3 region of 16S rRNA gene. The genera Bacillus, Acinetobacter and Corynebacterium, under the phyla Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, respectively, were found to be the most abundant genera present in mango and its hemiparasites. It was found that during the post-flowering season, the twigs and leaves of mango had lesser endophytes than in other seasons while the alpha-diversity indices of the representative genera were the highest in L. parasiticus during the same seasons. However, in M. colchinchinensis, the alpha diversity was also higher in the post-flowering season similar to another hemiparasite plant L. parasiticus. The ecological, taxonomic and complex correlation studies unravelled that the hemiparasites act as the potent reservoirs of endophytic communities throughout the year and during favourable conditions, these bacterial communities disseminate to the mango plant.

Automated summary

This study aimed to explore the dynamics of endophytic bacterial communities in mango and its hemiparasites across different seasons, finding variations in endophytic bacterial diversity in different seasons.