title: Biogeographical diversity of leaf-associated microbial communities from salt-secreting Tamarix trees of the Dead Sea region.
abstract: The leaves of Tamarix, a salt-secreting desert tree, form an extreme niche that harbors a unique microbial community. In view of the global distribution of this tree, its island-like phyllosphere is highly suitable for studying microbial diversity along geographical gradients. Here we present an analysis of microbial community diversity using leaf surface samples collected at six different sites, on both sides of the Dead Sea, over a period of one year. Biodiversity analysis of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) patterns of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene revealed a significant degree of bacterial community similarity within trees sampled at the same site, much higher than the similarity between trees from different geographical locations. Statistical analysis indicated that the degree of similarity was negatively correlated with the distance between sampling sites, and that a weak correlation existed between diversity and leaf pH.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of Life Sciences, 91904 Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Noga
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Qvit-Raz
authors.forename: Omri M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Finkel
authors.forename: Taghleb M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Al-Deeb
authors.forename: Hanan I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Malkawi
authors.forename: Muna Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Hindiyeh
authors.forename: Edouard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jurkevitch
authors.forename: Shimshon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Belkin
mesh_terms: D020561:Alphaproteobacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001406:Bacillaceae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D041963:Bacteroidetes / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020562:Betaproteobacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D044822:Biodiversity; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis / Q000379:methods; D020563:Gammaproteobacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D059013:Microbial Consortia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D055049:Salt Tolerance; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D032363:Tamaricaceae / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012965:Sodium Chloride