How does plant sex alter microbiota assembly in dioecious plants?

ABSTRACT

Plant microbiota can greatly impact plant growth, defense, and health in different environments. Thus, it might be evolutionarily beneficial for plants to be able to control processes related to microbiota assembly. Dioecious plant species display sexual dimorphism in morphology, physiology, and immunity. These differences imply that male and female individuals might differently regulate their microbiota, but the role of sex in microbiota assembly has been largely neglected so far. Here, we introduce the mechanism of how sex controls microbiota in plants analogically to the sex regulation of gut microbiota in animals, in particular in humans. We argue that plant sex imposes selective pressure on filtering and constructing microbiota in the rhizosphere, phyllosphere, and endosphere along the soil-plant continuum. Since male plants are more resistant than female plants to environmental stresses, we suggest that a male host forms more stable and resistant plant microbiota that cooperate more effectively with the host to resist stresses. Male and female plants can distinguish whether a plant is of the same or different sex, and males can alleviate stress-caused damage in females. The impact of a male host on microbiota would protect female plants from unfavorable environments.