Dataset Information

Root-associated microorganisms reprogram plant life history along the growth-stress resistance tradeoff.

ABSTRACT: Growth-defense tradeoffs are a major constraint on plant evolution. While the genetics of resource allocation is well established, the regulatory role of plant-associated microorganisms is still unclear. Here, we demonstrate that plant-associated microorganisms can reposition the plant phenotype along the same growth-defense tradeoff that determines phenotypic effects of plant mutations. We grew plants with microorganisms altering ethylene balance, a key hormone regulating plant investment into growth and stress tolerance. Microbial ethylene reduction had a similar effect to mutations disrupting ethylene signaling: both increased plant growth but at the cost of a strong stress hypersensitivity. We conclude that microbial impact on phenotype can offset the effects of mutations and that apparent plant growth promotion has strong pleiotropic effects. This study confirms that plant life history should be addressed as a joint product of plant genotype and its associated microbiota.

SUBMITTER: Ravanbakhsh M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6863829 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Root-associated microorganisms reprogram plant life history along the growth-stress resistance tradeoff.

Ravanbakhsh Mohammadhossein M Kowalchuk George A GA Jousset Alexandre A

The ISME journal 20190911 12

Growth-defense tradeoffs are a major constraint on plant evolution. While the genetics of resource allocation is well established, the regulatory role of plant-associated microorganisms is still unclear. Here, we demonstrate that plant-associated microorganisms can reposition the plant phenotype along the same growth-defense tradeoff that determines phenotypic effects of plant mutations. We grew plants with microorganisms altering ethylene balance, a key hormone regulating plant investment into ...[more]

PMID: 31511619

Similar Datasets

Project description:Mangroves migrate northward in Florida and colonize marshes historically dominated by salt marsh species. In theory, this migration should be facilitated by greater numbers of propagules stemming from increased reproductive activity and greater genetic variability caused by outcrossing. We aimed to determine if stand reproduction and % outcrossing were affected by cold stress (stress increases with latitude), anthropogenic stress (human population density as a proxy), and years since a major hurricane. Further, we wished to determine if mutation rate varied with the stressors and if that affected stand reproduction. Both coasts of Florida from the southern Florida Keys to Tampa Bay on the Gulf of Mexico coast, and Merritt Island on the Atlantic coast. We conducted field surveys of frequency of reproducing trees (104,211 trees surveyed in 102 forested stands), incidence of trees showing albinism in propagules, and% outcrossing estimated from the ratio of albino:normal propagules. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test a conceptual model that served as a multivariate hypothesis. Reproductive frequencies varied by site and increased with latitude although more strongly on the Gulf coast. Our SEM results indicate that outcrossing increases in this predominately selfing species under conditions of cold and anthropogenic stress, and that this increases reproductive output in the population. Further, we find that increased mutation rates suppress stand reproductive output but there is no significant relationship between outcrossing and mutation rate. Tree size responded to stressors but did not affect stand reproduction. Reproduction increased with years since major hurricane. Potential for colonization of northern Florida salt marshes by mangroves is enhanced by increased reproductive rates that provides more propagules and outcrossing that should enhance genetic variation thereby promoting adaptation to novel environmental conditions. Natural (cold) stress reduced mutation rate and increased stand reproductive output but anthropogenic stress did the opposite.

Project description:Plants use their roots to forage for nutrients in heterogeneous soil environments, but different plant species vastly differ in the intensity of foraging they perform. This diversity suggests the existence of constraints on foraging at the species level. We therefore examined the relationships between the intensity of root foraging and plant body traits across species in order to estimate the degree of coordination between plant body traits and root foraging as a form of plant behavior. We cultivated 37 perennial herbaceous Central European species from open terrestrial habitats in pots with three different spatial gradients of nutrient availability (steep, shallow, and no gradient). We assessed the intensity of foraging as differences in root placement inside pots with and without a spatial gradient of resource supply. For the same set of species, we retrieved data about body traits from available databases: maximum height at maturity, mean area of leaf, specific leaf area, shoot lifespan, ability to self-propagate clonally, maximal lateral spread (in clonal plants only), realized vegetative growth in cultivation, and realized seed regeneration in cultivation. Clonal plants and plants with extensive vegetative growth showed considerably weaker foraging than their non-clonal or slow-growing counterparts. There was no phylogenetic signal in the amount of expressed root foraging intensity. Since clonal plants foraged less than non-clonals and foraging intensity did not seem to be correlated with species phylogeny, we hypothesize that clonal growth itself (i.e., the ability to develop at least partly self-sustaining ramets) may be an answer to soil heterogeneity. Whereas unitary plants use roots as organs specialized for both resource acquisition and transport to overcome spatial heterogeneity in resource supply, clonal plants separate these two functions. Becoming a clonal plant allows higher specialization at the organ level, since a typical clonal plant can be viewed as a network of self-sustainable harvesting units connected together with specialized high-throughput connection organs. This may be an effective alternative for coping with spatial heterogeneity in resource availability.

Project description:Root-associated microorganisms are widely recognized as playing an important role in mitigating stress-induced damage to plants, but the responses of rhizosphere microbial communities after inoculation and their relationship with plant responses remain unclear. In this study, the bacterium Providencia vermicola BR68 and the fungus Sarocladium kiliense FS18 were selected from among 91 strains isolated from the halophyte Suaeda salsa to interact with maize seedlings under salt stress. The results showed that compared with NaCl-only treatment, inoculation with strains BR68 and FS18 significantly improved the growth, net photosynthetic rate, and antioxidant enzyme activities of maize; significantly reduced proline content and generation rate of reactive oxygen species (ROS); and alleviated oxidative stress and osmotic stress. Moreover, inoculation with these two strains increased the activities of soil microbiome enzymes such as sucrase, catalase, and fluorescein diacetate hydrolase, which improved maize physiologies and promoted maize growth under salt stress. In addition, these inoculated strains significantly affected the abundance of certain genera, and the correlation trends for these genera with soil properties and maize physiologies were similar to those of these inoculated strains. Strain BR68 was indirectly associated with bacterial communities through BR-specific biomarkers, and bacterial communities and soil properties explained most of the variation in maize physiologies and growth. Inoculation of strain FS18 was directly associated with variations in soil properties and maize physiologies. The two strains improved maize growth under salt stress and alleviated stress damage in maize in different ways. The links among salt-tolerant microorganisms, soil, and plants established in this study can inform strategies for improving crop cultivation in salinized lands. IMPORTANCE This study demonstrates that halophyte root-associated microorganisms can promote crop tolerance to salt stress and clarify the mechanism by which the strains work in rhizosphere soil. The links among salt-tolerant microorganisms, soil, and plants established in this study can inform strategies for improving crop cultivation in salinized lands.

Dataset Information

Root-associated microorganisms reprogram plant life history along the growth-stress resistance tradeoff.

Publications

Root-associated microorganisms reprogram plant life history along the growth-stress resistance tradeoff.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets