Matthias Rott

TL;DR: Methodology is described to characterize and compare soil- and root-inhabiting bacterial communities, which reveals not only a function for metabolically active plant cells but also for inert cell-wall features in the selection of soil bacteria for host colonization.

TL;DR: It is shown that the isolates form assemblies resembling natural microbiota on their cognate host organs, but are also capable of ectopic leaf or root colonization, which raises the possibility of reciprocal relocation between root and leaf microbiota members.

TL;DR: A group of papers analyzes pathogen genomes to find the roots of virulence, opportunism, and life-style determinants in plant pathogens, suggesting that most effectors represent species-specific adaptations.

TL;DR: The results reveal that Nepenthes pitcher fluids represent a dynamic system that is able to react to the presence of microbes and can avoid and control the microbial colonization of their pitfall traps and, thereby, reduce the need to vie with microbes for the prey-derived nutrients.

TL;DR: To bridge the gaps between phyllosphere and rhizosphere research, as well as between plant and soil science, was the remit of the 28th New Phytologist Symposium on functions and ecology of the plantmicrobiome held in Rhodes, Greece in May 2012.