Arabidopsis requires a stearoyl-ACP desaturase for proper interaction with beneficial rhizobacteria

ABSTRACT: Unlike pathogens that trigger plant defense responses, beneficial microbes are compatible with plants. One possible reason for the compatibility is that the microbial factors from beneficial microbes are inert in that they do not trigger plant defense responses. Little is known about the mechanisms underlying this seemingly inert relation. Here we report that Arabidopsis lacking the gene Growth-Promotion 1 (GP1) becomes defensive to microbial volatiles from Bacillus amyloliqueficiens strain GB03, a beneficial rhizobacterium. The gp1 mutant was isolated in a forward genetic screen for mutants that show defectiveness in GB03-triggered plant inducible vigor. GP1 encodes a stearoyl-ACP desaturase that catalyzes the desaturation of stearic acid (18:0) to oleic acid (18:1). Consistently, plant inducible vigor was also impaired by chemical enhancement of 18:1 catabolism, while genetic disruption of 18:1 catabolism largely restored the inducible vigor in gp1. When exposed to GB03-emitted microbial volatiles (GMVs), wild type plants showed transcriptional up-regulation of growth-promoting processes and down-regulation of defense responses; in contrast, the gp1 transcriptome displayed elevated defense responses when treated with GMVs. Meanwhile disruption of salicylic acid-mediated defense partially restored plant inducible vigor in gp1. Microbiota profiling revealed that GP1 dysfunction alters the assemblage of plant-associated rhizobacteria communities, including a reduction in the Bacillaceae family that is known to contain many beneficial rhizobacteria species. Consistently, gp1 mutants showed severely impaired root colonization of GB03. Our findings suggest that GP1 prevents the plant defense system from being mistakenly activated by non-pathogenic microbial factors, thereby allowing mutualistic association between the plant and beneficial microbes.

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

PROVIDER: GSE139154 | GEO | 2022/10/04

REPOSITORIES: GEO