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Determinants of Epiphytic Fitness in Bacteria

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Microbial Ecology of Leaves

Part of the book series: Brock/Springer Series in Contemporary Bioscience ((BROCK/SPRINGER))

Abstract

The bacteria that inhabit the phylloplane are generally distinctive from those that colonize other habitats and therefore probably have special adaptations which allow them to exploit leaf surfaces. Several studies have noted that a majority of the bacteria isolated from leaf surfaces are pigmented, unlike those recovered from other habitats such as nearby soil (Stout, 1960a, 1960b; Goodfellow and Austin, 1976). It has been speculated (Gibbins and Peterson, 1978) that pigmentation in epiphytic bacteria is an adaptation which allows these microorganisms to tolerate incident ultraviolet (UV) light impinging on the leaf surface (Dickinson, 1986). Presumably, such adaptations would be unnecessary in bacteria inhabiting other habitats in which incident UV radiation was lower.

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  1. Steven E. Lindow
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  1. Department of Plant Pathology Russell Laboratories, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    John H. Andrews  & Susan S. Hirano  & 

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Lindow, S.E. (1991). Determinants of Epiphytic Fitness in Bacteria. In: Andrews, J.H., Hirano, S.S. (eds) Microbial Ecology of Leaves. Brock/Springer Series in Contemporary Bioscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3168-4_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3168-4_15

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