RESEARCH ARTICLE Detection of Burkholderia in the seeds of Psychotria punctata (Rubiaceae) ± Microscopic evidence for vertical transmission in the leaf nodule symbiosis 1,2 3 2 1,4 Arne SinnesaelID *, Sharon Eeckhout , Steven B. Janssens , Erik Smets , 5 3 6 Bart PanisID , Olivier Leroux , Brecht Verstraete 1 Plant Conservation and Population Biology, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, a1111111111 2 Botanic Garden Meise, Meise, Belgium, 3 Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, 4 Naturalis Biodiversity Center, University of Leiden, Leiden, the Netherlands, 5 Bioversity International, a1111111111 Leuven, Belgium, 6 Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway a1111111111 a1111111111 *
[email protected] a1111111111 Abstract OPEN ACCESS Citation: Sinnesael A, Eeckhout S, Janssens SB, Smets E, Panis B, Leroux O, et al. (2018) Detection Background and aims of Burkholderia in the seeds of Psychotria punctata The bacterial leaf nodule symbiosis is a close interaction between endophytes and their (Rubiaceae) ± Microscopic evidence for vertical plant hosts, mainly within the coffee family. The interaction between Rubiaceae species and transmission in the leaf nodule symbiosis. PLoS ONE 13(12): e0209091. https://doi.org/10.1371/ Burkholderia bacteria is unique due to its obligate nature, high specificity, and predominantly journal.pone.0209091 vertical transmission of the endophytes to the next generation of host plants. This vertical Editor: Erika Kothe, Friedrich Schiller University, transmission is intriguing since it is the basis for the uniqueness of the symbiosis. However, GERMANY unequivocal evidence of the location of the endophytes in the seeds is lacking. The aim of Received: July 13, 2018 this paper is therefore to demonstrate the presence of the host specific endophyte in the seeds of Psychotria punctata and confirm its precise location.