Abstract

Antibiotics are ubiquitous pollutants that are widely found in aquatic ecosystems, where the bacterial community of aquatic plants is influenced by antibiotics. However, differences between endophyte and phyllosphere bacteria of Lotus from above and below surface water remains unclear. Lotus samples from above and below the surface water were collected to investigate the differences in endophyte and phyllosphere bacteria and dominant environmental factors in regions with low (L-) and high (H-) total antibiotic levels. There were significant differences in Shannon diversity between endophyte and phyllosphere bacteria except between the below-surface water phyllosphere bacteria and below-surface water endophytes in both L-antibiotic and H-antibiotic regions, with higher values for phyllosphere bacteria. The dominant phylum in all phyllosphere samples was Proteobacteria (76.1%-92.5%), while Cyanobacteria (47.8%-81.1%) was dominant in all endophyte samples. The dominant source of above-surface water endophytes was below-surface water endophytes (83.68-91.25%), below-surface water phyllosphere bacteria (48.43-55.91%) for above-surface water phyllosphere bacteria, and above-surface water endophytes (53.83-61.80%) for below-surface water endophytes, while the dominant contributor to the below-surface water phyllosphere bacteria was also below-surface water endophytes (52.96-61.00%) in two regions, indicating that antibiotic stress changed the sink-source relationship between endophytes and phyllosphere bacteria. The physical-chemical properties of surface water and sediments could be responsible for the variations in the above- and below-surface water endophytes and phyllosphere bacteria in both regions. It is suggested that antibiotics may have a substantial effect on endophyte and phyllosphere bacterial community.