| Summary: | Plants integrate complex regulatory networks to ensure the adaptative growth of roots and leaves. These networks combine internal signals and external cues, such as nutrient availability and plant-colonising microorganisms – plant microbiota. The extent to how microbial communities, nutrient availability and internal signalling are coordinated to ensure adaptative growth of plant organs remains poorly understood. To study root and leaf responses to the different environmental cues, we planted four maise genotypes in three selected soils with different mineral nutrient contents and bacterial compositions. While root growth of the different genotypes was not affected by soil variability, leaves differentially integrated the soil effect. To understand the factors modulating the development of individual leaves, we investigated their mineral nutrient content and microbiome composition. We demonstrated that the soil effect on leaf development results from changes in the concentration of individual mineral elements impacting distinct leaf-associated bacterial communities.
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