Laura Leventhal

All Publications

• Continental-scale associations of Arabidopsis thaliana phyllosphere members with host genotype and drought. Nature microbiology Karasov, T. L., Neumann, M., Leventhal, L., Symeonidi, E., Shirsekar, G., Hawks, A., Monroe, G., Exposito-Alonso, M., Bergelson, J., Weigel, D., Schwab, R. 2024

  Abstract

  Plants are colonized by distinct pathogenic and commensal microbiomes across different regions of the globe, but the factors driving their geographic variation are largely unknown. Here, using 16S ribosomal DNA and shotgun sequencing, we characterized the associations of the Arabidopsis thaliana leaf microbiome with host genetics and climate variables from 267 populations in the species' native range across Europe. Comparing the distribution of the 575 major bacterial amplicon variants (phylotypes), we discovered that microbiome composition in A. thaliana segregates along a latitudinal gradient. The latitudinal clines in microbiome composition are predicted by metrics of drought, but also by the spatial genetics of the host. To validate the relative effects of drought and host genotype we conducted a common garden field study, finding 10% of the core bacteria to be affected directly by drought and 20% to be affected by host genetic associations with drought. These data provide a valuable resource for the plant microbiome field, with the identified associations suggesting that drought can directly and indirectly shape genetic variation in A. thaliana via the leaf microbiome.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41564-024-01773-z

  View details for PubMedID 39242816

  View details for PubMedCentralID 6052059

• Genetic diversity loss in the Anthropocene. Science (New York, N.Y.) Exposito-Alonso, M., Booker, T. R., Czech, L., Gillespie, L., Hateley, S., Kyriazis, C. C., Lang, P. L., Leventhal, L., Nogues-Bravo, D., Pagowski, V., Ruffley, M., Spence, J. P., Toro Arana, S. E., WeiSS, C. L., Zess, E. 2022; 377 (6613): 1431-1435

  Abstract

  Anthropogenic habitat loss and climate change are reducing species' geographic ranges, increasing extinction risk and losses of species' genetic diversity. Although preserving genetic diversity is key to maintaining species' adaptability, we lack predictive tools and global estimates of genetic diversity loss across ecosystems. We introduce a mathematical framework that bridges biodiversity theory and population genetics to understand the loss of naturally occurring DNA mutations with decreasing habitat. By analyzing genomic variation of 10,095 georeferenced individuals from 20 plant and animal species, we show that genome-wide diversity follows a mutations-area relationship power law with geographic area, which can predict genetic diversity loss from local population extinctions. We estimate that more than 10% of genetic diversity may already be lost for many threatened and nonthreatened species, surpassing the United Nations' post-2020 targets for genetic preservation.

  View details for DOI 10.1126/science.abn5642

  View details for PubMedID 36137047