Project description:We used wheat as rotational crop to assess the influence of continuous cropping on microbiome in Pinellia ternata rhizosphere and the remediation of rotational cropping to the impacted microbiota. Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology was utilized for this method to explore the rhizosphere microbial structure and diversity based on continuous and rotational cropping.
Project description:Background: The soil environment is responsible for sustaining most terrestrial plant life on earth, yet we know surprisingly little about the important functions carried out by diverse microbial communities in soil. Soil microbes that inhabit the channels of decaying root systems, the detritusphere, are likely to be essential for plant growth and health, as these channels are the preferred locations of new root growth. Understanding the microbial metagenome of the detritusphere and how it responds to agricultural management such as crop rotations and soil tillage will be vital for improving global food production. Methods: The rhizosphere soils of wheat and chickpea growing under + and - decaying root were collected for metagenomics sequencing. A gene catalogue was established by de novo assembling metagenomic sequencing. Genes abundance was compared between bulk soil and rhizosphere soils under different treatments. Conclusions: The study describes the diversity and functional capacity of a high-quality soil microbial metagenome. The results demonstrate the contribution of the microbiome from decaying root in determining the metagenome of developing root systems, which is fundamental to plant growth, since roots preferentially inhabit previous root channels. Modifications in root microbial function through soil management, can ultimately govern plant health, productivity and food security.
Project description:Microbial communities in the rhizosphere make significant contributions to crop health and nutrient cycling. However, their ability to perform important biogeochemical processes remains uncharacterized. Important functional genes, which characterize the rhizosphere microbial community, were identified to understand metabolic capabilities in the maize rhizosphere using GeoChip 3.0-based functional gene array method.
Project description:Septoria leaf blotch is a worldwide threat for wheat and mainly controlled by the application of synthetic fungicides. The fungal pathogen responsible for this disease, Zymoseptoria tritici, was shown as highly adaptable to its host plant, but also to fungicide challenge. Over the past decades it developed resistance to most fungicides due to target site modifications. Recently isolated strains showed cross-resistance to diverse fungicides and to unrelated drugs, suggesting a resistance mechanism that seems rarer in phytopathogenic fungi, known as multidrug resistance (MDR) in other organisms. In this study we show for two Z. tritici MDR strains, MDR6 and MDR7, enhanced prochloraz efflux sensitive to the modulators amitryptiline and chlorpromazine. Efflux was also inhibited by verapamil in the MDR7strain. Transcriptomics revealed several overexpressed transporter genes in both MDR strains, out of which the expression of the MgMFS1 transporter gene was the strongest and constitutively high in tested MDR field strains. Its inactivation in the MDR6 strain abolished resistance to fungicides with different modes of action revealing its involvement in the MDR phenomenon in Z. tritici.
Project description:Wheat leaf rust is a serious fungal disease of wheat that causes annual losses and necessitates using fungicides for effective disease management. It is caused by Puccinia triticina which spreads by means of airborne urediniospores. When these germinate on the leaf surface, they form germ-tubes which enter the leaf through open stomates. Spores and germ-tubes represent the first fungal structures that the host can perceive during a rust infection. They therefore contain proteins that could potentially trigger early host defense responses. Using 2-DE to separate this proteome, we produced gels containing 173 spots in the pI range of 4-7 and identified 123 proteins. These were predominantly proteins involved in metabolic and cellular processes, but with a large number (77%) of novel proteins that could not be identified through homology matching Twenty four of these showed no homology to wheat sequences, making them good candidate PAMPs.
Project description:Septoria leaf blotch is a worldwide threat for wheat and mainly controlled by the application of synthetic fungicides. The fungal pathogen responsible for this disease, Zymoseptoria tritici, was shown as highly adaptable to its host plant, but also to fungicide challenge. Over the past decades it developed resistance to most fungicides due to target site modifications. Recently isolated strains showed cross-resistance to diverse fungicides and to unrelated drugs, suggesting a resistance mechanism that seems rarer in phytopathogenic fungi, known as multidrug resistance (MDR) in other organisms. In this study we show for two Z. tritici MDR strains, MDR6 and MDR7, enhanced prochloraz efflux sensitive to the modulators amitryptiline and chlorpromazine. Efflux was also inhibited by verapamil in the MDR7strain. Transcriptomics revealed several overexpressed transporter genes in both MDR strains, out of which the expression of the MgMFS1 transporter gene was the strongest and constitutively high in tested MDR field strains. Its inactivation in the MDR6 strain abolished resistance to fungicides with different modes of action revealing its involvement in the MDR phenomenon in Z. tritici. A total of four strains were compared, two sensitive (IPO323, S6) and two MDR strains (09-ASA-3apz; 09-CB01) with three replicates each. All strains were grown in liquid YPD medium to exponential growth.
Project description:Recent attempts to increase endogenous disease resistance of plants by overexpression of anti-fungal transgenes have shown a potential of this method. However, it has also been shown that such improvements are usually small. One of the obvious reasons for this low anti-fungal effect might be the regulation of endogenous genes in parallel. In this project, we will study the effect of anti-fungal transgenes on the endogenous gene expression. Such effects might relate to substantial equivalence which is a biosafety issue of concern to the public. The GeneChip Wheat Genome Array will be used to detect expression of defence response genes and key genes of metabolic pathways. We will use wheat plants transformed with anti-fungal gene of specific effect against a small group of seed transmitted, pathogenic fungi (KP4 against smuts and bunts). Transformed spring wheat line will be challenged by stinking smut (inhibited by KP4). The effect on the endogenous gene expression will be tested for plants grown in the field in collaboration with the USDA Department. This work will contribute to our understanding of plant defence responses in general and may allow improving strategies to strengthen these responses.