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Our new #OpenAccess paper is now available in the recent issue of MicrobiologyOpen!
So proud to co-lead the paper (my first publication
) with @mrebolleda and our awesome coauthors @dr_tialynn @bombus_nevinii @lf_cabo @stef_it_up_ 
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mbo3.1158
So proud to co-lead the paper (my first publication
) with @mrebolleda and our awesome coauthors @dr_tialynn @bombus_nevinii @lf_cabo @stef_it_up_ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mbo3.1158
We took two flowers (one with a uniform UV absorbing pattern and the other with a UV bullseye pattern that creates a gradient from UV absorbing in the flower's center to UV reflecting at the tips), pressed petals into agar, and transected the print to track microbe arrangement 2/
Next we collected and sequenced isolates collected from the petal prints, and tested their tolerance to UV light. We found for the flower w/ UV bullseye, isolates from UV absorbing areas had lower UV tolerance than UV reflecting areas, a trend lost in the uniform flower 3/
We also collected and sequenced surface microbiome samples from petals to compare the total culture-independent community to those we were able to culture in the lab. 75% of families in the total community were represented in culture (a good yield compared to the lit) 4/
Finally, we were interested in alternate explanations that could contribute to petal community composition, including microbe growth rate, chemical tolerance, and carbon utilization. 5/
In the UV bullseye flower but not the other, there was a negative relationship b/t growth rate and petal position (higher growth rate closer to center of petal). Additionally, isolates performed as expected by documented family characteristics in chem and carbon assays. 6/
Overall, our study shows an effective way to study floral microbe communities in a spatially explicit manner and opens the avenue for future studies of community composition, structure, and assembly on the within-petal scale 
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