Fig. 7

Microbes associated with the phyllosphere microbiome shift. a Overview of microbiome features in citrus leaves infected by D. citri. (i–iii) Microbiome features suggested the shift in phyllosphere microbiome upon challenge with D. citri. b Richness (observed ASVs) of the microbes within the phyllosphere microbiome shift from 16S metabarcoding data. Asterisks denote significant differences (*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001) and NS denotes no statistical significance. c A workflow for microbial cultivation of the microbes within the phyllosphere microbiome shift. d Culture-dependent coverage (48.7%) of epiphytic phyllosphere-associated bacteria. The inner ring represents the epiphytic phyllosphere-associated ASVs reproducibly detected from 16S metabarcoding data (with relative abundance greater than 0.1%). The outer ring with green squares represents ASVs that are founded in the cultivated bacteria derived from epiphytic phyllosphere. e Twelve microbes associated with the phyllosphere microbiome shift were selectively cultivated, belonging to the genera Sphingomonas (9 ASVs), Pantoea (asv90), Methylobacterium (asv41), and Mucilaginibacter (asv102). Four (asv8, asv20, asv42, and asv27) of 9 Sphingomonas ASVs were used for further study because of their antagonistic activities against D. citri