Dataset Information

Host Genotype and Precipitation Influence of Fungal Endophyte Symbiosis and Mycotoxin Abundance in a Locoweed.

ABSTRACT: Many plant endophytes produce mycotoxins, but how host genetic variation influences endophyte colonization and mycotoxin production under natural conditions is poorly understood. This interaction has not been fully considered in many previous studies which used controlled experiments with agronomic or model plant species. Here, we investigated this interaction in a naturally occurring forb (a locoweed species) Oxytropis ochrocephala, its symbiotic endophyte Alternaria oxytropis, and the mycotoxin swainsonine. Host genetic variation was characterized by microsatellite markers. Endophyte infection rate and swainsonine levels were determined by PCR and HPLC, respectively. Genetic markers defined two distinct host populations and revealed that host genetics were significantly correlated with geographical location, elevation, and precipitation. As the host diverged, symbiotic interactions were reduced or failed to produce detectable swainsonine in one host population. Host genotype and precipitation had a significant impact in shaping swainsonine production at the population level. This study highlights the effect of host genotype in influencing this interaction in locoweeds.

SUBMITTER: He W

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6862532 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Host Genotype and Precipitation Influence of Fungal Endophyte Symbiosis and Mycotoxin Abundance in a Locoweed.

He Wei W Guo Linwei L Wang Lei L Zhao Qianqian Q Guo Lizhu L Cao Wei W Mur Luis A J LAJ Wei Yahui Y

International journal of molecular sciences 20191024 21

Many plant endophytes produce mycotoxins, but how host genetic variation influences endophyte colonization and mycotoxin production under natural conditions is poorly understood. This interaction has not been fully considered in many previous studies which used controlled experiments with agronomic or model plant species. Here, we investigated this interaction in a naturally occurring forb (a locoweed species) <i>Oxytropis ochrocephala</i>, its symbiotic endophyte <i>Alternaria oxytropis</i>, an ...[more]

PMID: 31652999

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Project description:Initial studies of grass-endophyte mutualisms using Schedonorus arundinaceus cultivar Kentucky-31 infected with the vertically transmitted endophyte Epichloë coenophiala found strong, positive endophyte effects on host-grass invasion success. However, more recent work using different cultivars of S. arundinaceus has cast doubt on the ubiquity of this effect, at least as it pertains to S. arundinaceus-E. coenophiala. We investigated the generality of previous work on vertically transmitted Epichloë-associated grass invasiveness by studying a pair of very closely related species: S. pratensis and E. uncinata. Seven cultivars of S. pratensis and two cultivars of S. arundinaceus that were developed with high- or low-endophyte infection rate were broadcast seeded into 2 × 2-m plots in a tilled, old-field grassland community in a completely randomized block design. Schedonorus abundance, endophyte infection rate, and co-occurring vegetation were sampled 3, 4, 5, and 6 years after establishment, and the aboveground invertebrate community was sampled in S. pratensis plots 3 and 4 years after establishment. Endophyte infection did not enable the host grass to achieve high abundance in the plant community. Contrary to expectations, high-endophyte S. pratensis increased plant richness relative to low-endophyte cultivars. However, as expected, high-endophyte S. pratensis marginally decreased invertebrate taxon richness. Endophyte effects on vegetation and invertebrate community composition were inconsistent among cultivars and were weaker than temporal effects. The effect of the grass-Epichloë symbiosis on diversity is not generalizable, but rather specific to species, cultivar, infection, and potentially site. Examining grass-endophyte systems using multiple cultivars and species replicated among sites will be important to determine the range of conditions in which endophyte associations benefit host grass performance and have subsequent effects on co-occurring biotic communities.

Project description:Plants harbor complex and highly diverse fungal endophyte communities (FECs), making it difficult to evaluate the functional role of individual taxa, subsets of the community, or the FEC as a whole. To reduce the complexity of this system, we aimed to produce fungi-null wheat (Triticum aestivum) plants. To this end, we treated seeds with heat and fungicides and generated plants from rescued embryos and callus tissue. A culture-based approach and reverse transcription PCR analysis were negative, indicating that all treatments produced plants apparently free of fungi. However, the analysis of DNA using digital droplet PCR and next-generation sequencing revealed that tissues from all treatments retained low levels but diversity-rich FECs. While the FECs varied in composition across treatments and tissues, they all included core taxa of the mycobiome. The reduced fungal biomass, along with the changes in FEC composition, negatively affected plant development, supporting a FEC contribution to proper plant development and fitness. Our discovery that a large part of the FEC cannot be separated from plants and can be transmitted through seeds and tissue culture calls for reevaluation of particular microbiome paradigms, such as core taxa concepts, transmission modes, and functional species.IMPORTANCEThe native microbiome in a given plant must be considered when evaluating the effect of a single taxon or synthetic community. The pre-existing microbiome can interact with artificially added microbial cargo, which affects the final outcome. Such issues can be at least partially solved by the use of endophyte-free plants, which provide a clean background that should be useful in determining the effect of a single taxon, taxa combinations, or the entire microbiome on plant performance. Previous reports regarded plants as endophyte-free or axenic by the lack of fungal growth on culture media or the generation of plants from tissue cultures. We showed here that while fungi could not be isolated from fungicide-treated or tissue culture-regenerated plants, nevertheless, all plants contained rich fungal endophyte communities; namely, it was impossible to create fungi-free wheat plants. Our results call for rethinking fundamental microbiome-related concepts, such as core taxa, transmission mode, and functional species.

Dataset Information

Host Genotype and Precipitation Influence of Fungal Endophyte Symbiosis and Mycotoxin Abundance in a Locoweed.

Publications

Host Genotype and Precipitation Influence of Fungal Endophyte Symbiosis and Mycotoxin Abundance in a Locoweed.

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