Diversity of Bacterial Endophytes in the African Tulip Tree for Puerto Rico

In about 50 years, the introduced Spathodea campanulata, the African tulip tree, has become one of the most common tree in Puerto Rico. It was introduced due to its colorful flower. The African tulip has been occupying unused agricultural fields. Lately, S. campanulata is considered a key player in the re-acclimation of abandoned lands by hosting birds and bats nourishing a developing native forest under its canopy. This successional phenomenon may have influenced microbial dynamics in the ecosystem. Our objective is to determine the diversity of bacterial endophytes in Spathodea campanulata. Bark, flower, and leaves samples were collected from S. campanulata on different seasons in Puerto Rico. Pieces of plant material were cultivated in Tryptic Soy Broth 0.5X for 48 hours at room temperature. Mix cultures were subjected to terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism of the 16S rDNA; and 16S rDNA sequencing of isolated strains. Abundance of bacterial community varie: bark (157 phyloptypes), flower (51) and leaves (21). In the bark, Lysinibacillus and Pseudomonas strains were detected inside and outside the tissue, respectively. Interestingly, fewer isolates were retrieved from the flower, as a close homolog to Pseudomonas psychrotolerans. Enterobacter sp. and Bacillus pumillus were retrieved from the leaves. Detailed characterization continues for additional isolates. A diverse endophytic bacterial community was found in the invasive Spathodea campanulata. The elucidation of endophytic bacteria in invasive plants provides a source for biotechnological applications and ecological understanding.