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Genome‐wide association studies on the phyllosphere microbiome: Embracing complexity in host–microbe interactions
Author(s) -
Beilsmith Kathleen,
Thoen Manus P.M.,
Brachi Benjamin,
Gloss Andrew D.,
Khan Mohammad H.,
Bergelson Joy
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/tpj.14170
Subject(s) - phyllosphere , microbiome , biology , genome wide association study , context (archaeology) , computational biology , metagenomics , host (biology) , evolutionary biology , genetics , single nucleotide polymorphism , gene , genotype , paleontology , bacteria
Summary Environmental sequencing shows that plants harbor complex communities of microbes that vary across environments. However, many approaches for mapping plant genetic variation to microbe‐related traits were developed in the relatively simple context of binary host–microbe interactions under controlled conditions. Recent advances in sequencing and statistics make genome‐wide association studies ( GWAS ) an increasingly promising approach for identifying the plant genetic variation associated with microbes in a community context. This review discusses early efforts on GWAS of the plant phyllosphere microbiome and the outlook for future studies based on human microbiome GWAS . A workflow for GWAS of the phyllosphere microbiome is then presented, with particular attention to how perspectives on the mechanisms, evolution and environmental dependence of plant–microbe interactions will influence the choice of traits to be mapped.