Genome-sequenced bacterial collection from sorghum epicuticular wax

• Published in: Microbiology resource announcements 2023-11, Vol.12 (12), p.e00468-23
• Main Authors: Mechan-Llontop, Marco E, Mullet, John, Shade, Ashley
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacteriology; Biodiversity and Ecology; Ecology, environment; Environmental Sciences; Life Sciences; Microbiology and Parasitology
• ISSN: 2576-098X
• DOI: 10.1128/MRA.00468-23

A collection of 44 isolates isolated from the epicuticular wax of stems of energy sorghum is available at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Researcher Center, Michigan State University, MI, USA. We enrich bacteria with putative plant-beneficial phenotypes and include information on their phenotypic diversity, taxonomy, and whole-genome sequences.Announcement The heat and drought-tolerant and high-biomass crop bioenergy sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) accumulates high levels of epicuticular wax on the outer surface of the cuticle to protect plants against various stresses (1-3). It has been shown that the sorghum epicuticular wax harbors specialized microbiome members with putative plant-beneficial capabilities (4). As a resource for genomic and functional diversity of bacteria associated with phyllosphere exudates, we present a collection of 44 bacterial strains isolated from sorghum epicuticular wax. These strains represent 13 families and include 17 genera with putative plant-beneficial capabilities, including nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, resistance to terpenoids, use of methanol as carbon source, and tolerance to desiccation, based on the culture media in which the strains were originally isolated.Bacterial strains were isolated from the epicuticular wax of stems of bioenergy sorghum hybrid TX08001 grown at the Texas A&M University Research Farm in College Station, Texas (30 o 55'5.55" N, 96 o 43'64.6" W). On 2 September 2020, the fifth and sixth fully elongated stem internodes were destructively collected using razor blades into sterile whirl-pack bags. Within 2 hours of collection, the samples were transported to the laboratory on ice and stored at -80 o C. On 8 October 2020, samples were delivered to Michigan State University on dry ice and stored at -80C until processing. Epicuticular wax was carefully scraped from stems with sterile razor blades and collected into sterile 1.5 mL Eppendorf tubes.Wax from different plants was pooled, and 100 mg was resuspended in 1 mL of sterile water. Resuspended wax was serially diluted from 10 -1 to 10 -4 . To capture a diversity of bacteria from the wax, we used a variety of cultivation media (Table 1). To select for anaerobic bacteria, plates were placed in anaerobic jars containing three bags of anaerobic gas generator (Mitsubishi AnaeroPack System). All plates were incubated at 25 o C and 37 o C for up to 14 days. Isolated colonies were transferred on new plates with the same medium as used for iso