Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35369514›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in microbiology2022

Cytobacts: Abundant and Diverse Vertically Seed-Transmitted Cultivation-Recalcitrant Intracellular Bacteria Ubiquitous to Vascular Plants.

Pious Thomas, Thekepat P Rajendran, Christopher M M Franco

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in microbiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Plant-AssociatedPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023
    Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Pious ThomasThomas Biotech & Cytobacts Centre for Biosciences, Bengaluru, India.
Thekepat P RajendranResearch Information System for Developing Countries, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India.
Christopher M M FrancoDepartment of Medical Biotechnology, College of Medicine & Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Flinders University · AUIndia Habitat Centre · INIndian Institute of Horticultural Research · IN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We have recently described 'Cytobacts' as abundant intracellular endophytic bacteria inhabiting live plant cells based on the observations with callus and cell suspension cultures of grapevine and other plant species with the origin ascribable to field explants. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of such cytoplasmic bacterial associations in field plants across different taxa, their cultivability, and the extent of taxonomic diversity and explored the possibility of their embryo-mediated vertical transmission. Over 100 genera of field plants were surveyed for 'Cytobacts' through bright-field live-cell imaging as per our previous experience using fresh tissue sections from surface-sterilized shoot-tissues with parallel cultivation-based assessments. This revealed widespread cellular bacterial associations visualized as copious motile micro-particles in the cytoplasm with no or sparse colony forming units (CFU) from the tissue-homogenates indicating their general non-cultivability. Based on the ease of detection and the abundance of 'Cytobacts' in fresh tissue sections, the surveyed plants were empirically classified into three groups: (i) motile bacteria detected instantly in most cells; (ii) motility not so widely observed, but seen in some cells; and (iii) only occasional motile units observed, but abundant non-motile bacterial cells present. Microscopy versus 16S-rRNA V3-V4 amplicon profiling on shoot-tip tissues of four representative plants-tomato, watermelon, periwinkle, and maize-showed high bacterial abundance and taxonomic diversity (11-15 phyla) with the dominance of Proteobacteria followed by Firmicutes/Actinobacteria, and several other phyla in minor shares. The low CFU/absence of bacterial CFU from the tissue homogenates on standard bacteriological media endorsed their cultivation-recalcitrance. Intracellular bacterial colonization implied that the associated organisms are able to transmit vertically to the next generation through the seed-embryos. Microscopy and 16S-rRNA V3-V4 amplicon/metagenome profiling of mature embryos excised from fresh watermelon seeds revealed heavy embryo colonization by diverse bacteria with sparse or no CFU. Observations with grapevine fresh fruit-derived seeds and seed-embryos endorsed the vertical transmission by diverse cultivation-recalcitrant endophytic bacteria (CREB). By and large, Proteobacteria formed the major phylum in fresh seed-embryos with varying shares of diverse phyla. Thus, we document 'Cytobacts' comprising diverse and vertically transmissible CREBs as a ubiquitous phenomenon in vascular plants.

Indexed as

Brownian motionendophytic bacterial diversitymetagenomics 16Snext-generation deep sequencingplant cell biologyplant kingdomplant tissue cultureuncultivable bacteria

Identifiers

PMID35369514
PMCPMC8967353
OpenAlexW4220929237

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.