Potential beneficial effects of Anadenanthera colubrina seed microbiota

As in humans and animals, the plant-associated microbiota plays important roles and ecological services that affect both health and growth of the host. Therefore, plants can be considered as "holobionts" that include more microbial cells than cells belonging to the plant. Plant-associated microbes live in specific plant microhabitats, such as the rhizosphere, phyllosphere and endosphere. However, other microhabitats are less investigated despite their evident importance for plant-microbe association. The plant seeds, for example, can be a reservoir of microbes that will be directly transmitted to the next plant generation. This phenomenon was shown for some plants pathogens, while the contribution of beneficial microbes is still unknown.