We have also analysed the microbial phylums of the phyllosphere (bacteria, eukaryotes, and archaea), showing a great variety of adaptative properties like methanol metabolism and UV stress resistance. Surviving in the environment of the leaf is difficult and requires some unique strategies, hence the microbial population is not homogeneously located on the leaves but rather on nutrient oases^1,3. Most available nutrients of the phyllosphere are leached by-products of plant metabolism such as carbohydrates and methanol, so the Phyllosphere Microbial Community (PMC) could almost be compared to scavengers that live with the strict minimum¹. The phyllosphere organisms can provide stimulation through hormone secretion (like auxin), and protect the host from pathogens by forming a physical barrier, just like our gut microbiota³.

The population dynamics of phyllosphere organisms will be described, as well as how they interact with their host. These microbial populations are influenced by many parameters and interact with each other in the classical schemes of predation,commensalism,parasitism,mutualism and ammensalism. We also examined the routes of colonisation of the aerial parts of the plant by its microbiota at the origin (rainfall, soil…)³.

For Softer Shock we will need a host organism, or chassis. Our strategy is to select as a chassis an organism that lives in the target’s phyllosphere. Therefore, these characteristics are very important because they could enhance the properties and effects of our product on the targeted plant if we choose a chassis that comes from the target’s microbiota. By selecting a bacteria native to the target crop’s phyllosphere we will better be able to predict its behavior and know that it can survive in hard conditions, and provide additional beneficial services for our product.

We believe that our chassis selection could be made with metagenomics, the science of genome analysis, that permits to know what organisms are in a given environmental sample and what are their functions. For example, we could sample leaves from a vineyard, then analyse the genome of its microbial inhabitants and try to assess their functions, relying as well on proteomics, metabolomics and many other interesting sciences⁴.
The analysis will permit us to select the most interesting organism for any vineyard and maximise efficiency and biosafety. We hypothesise indeed that by selecting a phyllosphere specific organism, we will reduce its impact on other environment such as soil and water, because it will not be adapted to them. We hence will need to analyse the target plant surrounding environment to choose an organism that is specific only to its phyllosphere.