title: Diversity and hydrocarbon-degrading potential of epiphytic microbial communities on Platanus x acerifolia leaves in an urban area.
abstract: Plants and their associated bacteria have been suggested to play a role in air pollution mitigation, especially in urban areas. Particularly, epiphytic bacteria might be able to degrade atmospheric hydrocarbons. However, phyllospheric bacterial communities are highly variable depending on several factors, e.g. tree species, leaf age and physiology, environmental conditions. In this work, bacterial communities hosted by urban Platanus x acerifolia leaves were taxonomically characterized using high throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene, and their temporal and spatial variability was assessed by comparing samples collected from different locations in the city of Milan (Italy) and in different months. The diversity of alkane hydroxylase (alkB) phylotypes harboured by phyllospheric bacteria associated to urban Platanus trees was also evaluated. Results revealed that temporal changes, which are related to seasonality, acted as a stronger driver both on Platanus phyllospheric community structure and on alkB phylotype diversity than sampling location. Biodiversity of bacterial communities decreased along the growing season, leading to a strong dominance by the genus Stenotrophomonas. On the contrary, diversity of hydrocarbon-degrading populations increased over the months, although it resulted lower than that reported for other habitats. It was therefore hypothesized that atmospheric hydrocarbons might play a key role in the selection of phyllospheric populations in urban areas.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: isabella.gandolfi@unimib.it.
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gandolfi
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Canedoli
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Imperato
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilario
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tagliaferri
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gkorezis
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jaco
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vangronsveld
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Padoa Schioppa
authors.affiliation: INAIL, Dipartimento Innovazioni Tecnologiche e Sicurezza degli Impianti, Prodotti ed Insediamenti Antropici, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Maddalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Papacchini
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bestetti
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Franzetti
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D044822:Biodiversity; D042926:Cytochrome P-450 CYP4A / Q000235:genetics; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*; D007558:Italy; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000382:microbiology*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012621:Seasons; D020588:Stenotrophomonas / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014197:Trees / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D042926:Cytochrome P-450 CYP4A
keywords: Air purification; Alkane hydroxylase; Hydrocarbons; Phylloremediation; Phyllosphere