Whole-Genome Sequencing of Bacterial Endophytes From Fresh and Preserved Plant Specimens

Abstract

Many plants harbor symbiotic bacteria in their leaves, sometimes within structures visible with the naked eye. These bacteria play critical roles for host development and defense, but are often not amenable to culture. Gaining insight into the functions of these obligate endophytic bacteria hinges on culture-independent omics approaches, which have seen tremendous development in recent years. We describe in this chapter a set of protocols for the extraction and bioinformatic analysis of bacterial genomic DNA from leaf samples of various origins, including fresh, silica-preserved, or herbarium specimens.