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Comment
. 2017 Oct 17;114(42):11009-11011.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1715417114. Epub 2017 Oct 9.

Trees harness the power of microbes to survive climate change

Jennifer A Lau  1   2   3 , Jay T Lennon  4 , Katy D Heath  5
Affiliations
Comment

Trees harness the power of microbes to survive climate change

Jennifer A Lau et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Diverse belowground microbial communities can facilitate host adaptation if there is intraspecific genetic variation in host traits that mediate interactions with microbes and influence microbial community assembly (i.e., if the microbial community is a heritable extended phenotype of the host plant) (panel 1) and if host genotypes differ in fitness because microbial communities differentially influence host fitness (i.e., if the host traits controlling interactions with microbes are under selection) (panel 2). Panel 2 represents a traditional selection gradient analysis, where the trait of interest is the microbial community supported by the host (i.e., microbial community composition is an extended phenotype of the host). If traits mediating interactions with microbes are the key adaptation, then the fitness–host relationship shown in panel 2 will only be apparent in the presence of microbes. In sterilized conditions, host fitness will not be correlated with the microbial communities they are known to associate with. As a result of this microbe-mediated selection, a classic pattern of local adaptation should result when hosts are grown in association with microbes (panel 3), but no pattern of local adaptation will be observed when hosts are grown under sterile conditions. Illustrations courtesy of S. Magnoli.
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References

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