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Environmental heat and salt stress induce transgenerational phenotypic changes in Arabidopsis thaliana.

ABSTRACT: Plants that can adapt their phenotype may be more likely to survive changing environmental conditions. Heritable epigenetic variation could provide a way to rapidly adapt to such changes. Here we tested whether environmental stress induces heritable, potentially adaptive phenotypic changes independent of genetic variation over few generations in Arabidopsis thaliana. We grew two accessions (Col-0, Sha-0) of A. thaliana for three generations under salt, heat and control conditions and tested for induced heritable phenotypic changes in the fourth generation (G4) and in reciprocal F1 hybrids generated in generation three. Using these crosses we further tested whether phenotypic changes were maternally or paternally transmitted. In generation five (G5), we assessed whether phenotypic effects persisted over two generations in the absence of stress. We found that exposure to heat stress in previous generations accelerated flowering under G4 control conditions in Sha-0, but heritable effects disappeared in G5 after two generations without stress exposure. Previous exposure to salt stress increased salt tolerance in one of two reciprocal F1 hybrids. Transgenerational effects were maternally and paternally inherited. Lacking genetic variability, maternal and paternal inheritance and reversibility of transgenerational effects together indicate that stress can induce heritable, potentially adaptive phenotypic changes, probably through epigenetic mechanisms. These effects were strongly dependent on plant genotype and may not be a general response to stress in A. thaliana.

SUBMITTER: Suter L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3621951 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are a functionally diverse group of microbes having immense potential as biostimulants and stress alleviators. Their exploitation in agro-ecosystems as an eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative to traditional chemical inputs may positively affect agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. The present study describes selected rhizobacteria, from a range of origins, having plant growth promoting potential under controlled conditions. A total of 98 isolates (ectophytic or endophytic) from various crop and uncultivated plants were screened, out of which four endophytes (n, L, K and Y) from Phalaris arundinacea, Solanum dulcamara, Scorzoneroides autumnalis, and Glycine max, respectively, were selected in vitro for their vegetative growth stimulating effects on Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 seedlings with regard to leaf surface area and shoot fresh weight. A 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis of the strains indicated that these isolates belong to the genera Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Mucilaginibacter and Rhizobium. Strains were then further tested for their effects on abiotic stress alleviation under both Petri-plate and pot conditions. Results from Petri-dish assay indicated strains L, K and Y alleviated salt stress in Arabidopsis seedlings, while strains K and Y conferred increases in fresh weight and leaf area under osmotic stress. Results from subsequent in vivo trials indicated all the isolates, especially strains L, K and Y, distinctly increased A. thaliana growth under both normal and high salinity conditions, as compared to control plants. The activity of antioxidant enzymes (ascorbate peroxidase, catalase and peroxidase), proline content and total antioxidative capacity also differed in the inoculated A. thaliana plants. Furthermore, a study on spatial distribution of the four strains, using either conventional Petri-plate counts or GFP-tagged bacteria, indicated that all four strains were able to colonize the endosphere of A. thaliana root tissue. Thus, the study revealed that the four selected rhizobacteria are good candidates to be explored as plant growth stimulators, which also possess salt stress mitigating property, partially by regulating osmolytes and antioxidant enzymes. Moreover, the study is the first report of Scorzoneroides autumnalis (fall dandelion) and Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet) associated endophytes with PGP effects.

Project description:The molecular chaperone HSP90 aids the maturation of a diverse but select set of metastable protein clients, many of which are key to a variety of signal transduction pathways. HSP90 function has been best investigated in animal and fungal systems, where inhibition of the chaperone has exceptionally diverse effects, ranging from reversing oncogenic transformation to preventing the acquisition of drug resistance. Inhibition of HSP90 in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana uncovers novel morphologies dependent on normally cryptic genetic variation and increases stochastic variation inherent to developmental processes. The biochemical activity of HSP90 is strictly conserved between animals and plants. However, the substrates and pathways dependent on HSP90 in plants are poorly understood. Progress has been impeded by the necessity of reliance on light-sensitive HSP90 inhibitors due to redundancy in the A. thaliana HSP90 gene family. Here we present phenotypic and genome-wide expression analyses of A. thaliana with constitutively reduced HSP90 levels achieved by RNAi targeting. HSP90 reduction affects a variety of quantitative life-history traits, including flowering time and total seed set, increases morphological diversity, and decreases the developmental stability of repeated characters. Several morphologies are synergistically affected by HSP90 and growth temperature. Genome-wide expression analyses also suggest a central role for HSP90 in the genesis and maintenance of plastic responses. The expression results are substantiated by examination of the response of HSP90-reduced plants to attack by caterpillars of the generalist herbivore Trichoplusia ni. HSP90 reduction potentiates a more robust herbivore defense response. In sum, we propose that HSP90 exerts global effects on the environmental responsiveness of plants to many different stimuli. The comprehensive set of HSP90-reduced lines described here is a vital instrument to further examine the role of HSP90 as a central interface between organism, development, and environment.

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Environmental heat and salt stress induce transgenerational phenotypic changes in Arabidopsis thaliana.

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