scholarly journals An Ancestral Function of Strigolactones as Symbiotic Rhizosphere Signals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoichi Kodama ◽  
Mélanie K. Rich ◽  
Akiyoshi Yoda ◽  
Shota Shimazaki ◽  
Xiaonan Xie ◽  
...  

AbstractIn flowering plants, carotenoid-derived strigolactones (SLs) have dual functions as hormones that regulate growth and development, and as rhizosphere signaling molecules that induce symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Here, we report the identification of bryosymbiol (BSB), a previously unidentified SL from the bryophyte Marchantia paleacea. BSB is also found in vascular plants, indicating that it is ancestral in land plants. BSB synthesis is enhanced at AM symbiosis permissive conditions and BSB deficient mutants are impaired in AM symbiosis. In contrast, the absence of BSB synthesis has little effect on the growth and gene expression. We show that the introduction of the SL receptor of Arabidopsis renders M. paleacea cells BSB-responsive. These results suggest that BSB is not perceived by M. paleacea cells due to the lack of cognate SL receptors. We propose that SLs originated as AM symbiosis-inducing rhizosphere signaling molecules and were later recruited as plant hormone.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manoj-Kumar Arthikala ◽  
Kalpana Nanjareddy ◽  
Lourdes Blanco ◽  
Xóchitl Alvarado-Affantranger ◽  
Miguel Lara

AbstractTarget of rapamycin (TOR) is a conserved central growth regulator in eukaryotes that has a key role in maintaining cellular nutrient and energy status. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are mutualistic symbionts that assist the plant in increasing nutrient absorption from the rhizosphere. However, the role of legume TOR in AM fungal symbiosis development has not been investigated. In this study, we examined the function of legume TOR in the development and formation of AM fungal symbiosis. RNA-interference-mediated knockdown of TOR transcripts in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) hairy roots notably suppressed AM fungus-induced lateral root formation by altering the expression of root meristem regulatory genes, i.e., UPB1, RGFs, and sulfur assimilation and S-phase genes. Mycorrhized PvTOR-knockdown roots had significantly more extraradical hyphae and hyphopodia than the control (empty vector) roots. Strong promoter activity of PvTOR was observed at the site of hyphal penetration and colonization. Colonization along the root length was affected in mycorrhized PvTOR-knockdown roots and the arbuscules were stunted. Furthermore, the expression of genes induced by AM symbiosis such as SWEET1, VPY, VAMP713, and STR was repressed under mycorrhized conditions in PvTOR-knockdown roots. Based on these observations, we conclude that PvTOR is a key player in regulating arbuscule development during AM symbiosis in P. vulgaris. These results provide insight into legume TOR as a potential regulatory factor influencing the symbiotic associations of P. vulgaris and other legumes.


Botany ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ylva Lekberg ◽  
Roger T. Koide

Our knowledge of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) function is largely based on results from short-term studies in controlled environments. While these have provided many important insights into the potential effects of the symbiosis on the two symbionts and their communities, they may have also inadvertently led to faulty assumptions about the function of the symbiosis in natural settings. Here we highlight the consequences of failing to consider the AM symbiosis from the perspectives of community ecology and evolutionary biology. Also, we argue that by distinguishing between physiological and evolutionary viewpoints, we may be able to resolve controversies regarding the mutualistic vs. parasitic nature of the symbiosis. Further, while most AM research has emphasized resource transfers, primarily phosphate and carbohydrate, our perceptions of parasitism, cheating, bet-hedging, and partner choice would most likely change if we considered other services. Finally, to gain a fuller understanding of the role of the AM symbiosis in nature, we need to better integrate physiological processes of plants and their AM fungi with their naturally occurring temporal and spatial patterns. It is our hope that this article will generate some fruitful discussions and make a contribution toward this end.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 671
Author(s):  
Xiao Lou ◽  
Xiangyu Zhang ◽  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Ming Tang

The simultaneous effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and abscisic acid (ABA) on the tolerance of plants to heavy metal (HM) remain unclear. A pot experiment was carried out to clarify the effects of simultaneous applications of AM fungi and ABA on plant growth, Zn accumulation, endogenous ABA contents, proline metabolism, and the oxidative injury of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) exposed to excess Zn stress. The results suggested that exogenously applied ABA positively enhanced AM colonization, and that the growth of plants only with AM fungi was improved by ABA application. Under Zn stress, AM inoculation and ABA application increased the ABA content in the root/leaf (increased by 48–172% and 92%, respectively) and Zn content in the root/shoot (increased by 63–152% and 61%, respectively) in AM plants, but no similar trends were observed in NM plants. Additionally, exogenous ABA addition increased the proline contents of NM roots concomitantly with the activities of the related synthases, whereas it reduced the proline contents and the activity of Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase in AM roots. Under Zn stress, AM inoculation and ABA application decreased H2O2 contents and the production rate of O2, to varying degrees. Furthermore, in the roots exposed to Zn stress, AM inoculation augmented the activities of SOD, CAT, POD and APX, and exogenously applied ABA increased the activities of SOD and POD. Overall, AM inoculation combined with ABA application might be beneficial to the survival of black locust under Zn stress by improving AM symbiosis, inhibiting the transport of Zn from the roots to the shoots, increasing the distribution of ABA in roots, and stimulating antioxidant defense systems.


2022 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachiko Tanaka ◽  
Kayo Hashimoto ◽  
Yuuki Kobayashi ◽  
Koji Yano ◽  
Taro Maeda ◽  
...  

AbstractArbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is a mutually beneficial interaction between fungi and land plants and promotes global phosphate cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. AM fungi are recognised as obligate symbionts that require root colonisation to complete a life cycle involving the production of propagules, asexual spores. Recently, it has been shown that Rhizophagus irregularis can produce infection-competent secondary spores asymbiotically by adding a fatty acid, palmitoleic acid. Furthermore, asymbiotic growth can be supported using myristate as a carbon and energy source for their asymbiotic growth to increase fungal biomass. However, the spore production and the ability of these spores to colonise host roots were still limited compared to the co-culture of the fungus with plant roots. Here we show that a combination of two plant hormones, strigolactone and jasmonate, induces the production of a large number of infection-competent spores in asymbiotic cultures of Rhizophagus clarus HR1 in the presence of myristate and organic nitrogen. Inoculation of asymbiotically-generated spores promoted the growth of host plants, as observed for spores produced by symbiotic culture system. Our findings provide a foundation for the elucidation of hormonal control of the fungal life cycle and the development of inoculum production schemes.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayakar Govindu ◽  
Anusha Duvva ◽  
Srinivas Podeti

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) association is the most common symbiotic association of plants with microbes. AM fungi occur in the majority of natural habitats and they provide a range of important biological services, in particular by improving plant nutrition, abiotic resistance, and soil structure and fertility. AM fungi also interact with most crop varieties and forest plants. The possible benefit of AM fungi in forestry can be achieved through a combination of inoculum methods. The mycorrhizal inoculum levels in the soil and their colonization in different forest plant roots which leads to reduce the fertilizers, pathogen effects and fungicides and to protect topsoil, soil erosion, and water-logging. Currently, several reports were suggested that AM symbiosis can improve the potential for different plant species. Two steps could be used to produce high yielding of different plant biomass that would be both mycorrhizal dependency and suitability for sowing into the field with high inoculum levels Therefore, the wide-scale inoculation of AM fungi on forest trees will become economically important. The successful research is required in the area of mass production of AM fungal inoculum and AM fungi associated with roots which will contribute to sustainable forestry.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 3146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dehua Liao ◽  
Shuangshuang Wang ◽  
Miaomiao Cui ◽  
Jinhui Liu ◽  
Aiqun Chen ◽  
...  

Most terrestrial plants are able to form a root symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi for enhancing the assimilation of mineral nutrients. AM fungi are obligate symbionts that depend on host plants as their sole carbon source. Development of an AM association requires a continuous signal exchange between the two symbionts, which triggers coordinated differentiation of both partners, to enable their interaction within the root cells. The control of the AM symbiosis involves a finely-tuned process, and an increasing number of studies have pointed to a pivotal role of several phytohormones, such as strigolactones (SLs), gibberellic acids (GAs), and auxin, in the modulation of AM symbiosis, through the early recognition of events up to the final arbuscular formation. SLs are involved in the presymbiotic growth of the fungus, while auxin is required for both the early steps of fungal growth and the differentiation of arbuscules. GAs modulate arbuscule formation in a dose-dependent manner, via DELLA proteins, a group of GRAS transcription factors that negatively control the GA signaling. Here, we summarize the recent findings on the roles of these plant hormones in AM symbiosis, and also explore the current understanding of how the DELLA proteins act as central regulators to coordinate plant hormone signaling, to regulate the AM symbiosis.


Author(s):  
Fahad Nasir ◽  
Ali Bahadur ◽  
Xiaolong Lin ◽  
Yingzhi Gao ◽  
Chunjie Tian

Abstract More than 80% of land plant species benefit from symbiotic partnerships with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi that assist in nutrient acquisition and enhance the ability of host plants to adapt to environmental constraints. Host-generated plasma membrane-residing receptor-like kinases and the α/β-hydrolases, e.g. DWARF14-LIKE (D14L), a putative karrikin receptor, are used to detect the presence of AM fungi prior to physical contact between the host and fungus. Detection induces the activation of symbiosis-related transcriptional programming, enabling the successful establishment of AM symbiosis. In order to prevent hyper-colonization and to maintain a mutually beneficial association, the host plants precisely monitor and control AM symbiosis during the post-symbiotic stage via different molecular strategies. While previous studies have elucidated how host plant receptors and receptor-mediated signaling regulate AM symbiosis, the molecular details underlying these processes remain poorly understood. The recent identification of a rice (Oryza sativa) CHITIN-ELICITOR RECEPTOR-KINASE 1 (OsCERK1) interaction partner MYC FACTOR RECEPTOR 1 (OsMYR1), as well as new insights into D14L-receptor- and SUPER NUMERIC NODULES 1 (SUNN1) receptor-mediated signaling have improved our understanding of how host plant receptors and their corresponding signaling regulate AM symbiosis. The present review summarizes these and other current findings that have increased our limited understanding of receptor-mediated signaling mechanisms involved in the regulation of AM symbiosis. The identified receptors and/or their downstream signaling components could potentially be used to engineer economically-important crops with improved agronomic traits by conferring the ability to control the colonization of AM fungi in a precise manner.


2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 915-926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Branscheid ◽  
Daniela Sieh ◽  
Bikram Datt Pant ◽  
Patrick May ◽  
Emanuel A. Devers ◽  
...  

Many plants improve their phosphate (Pi) availability by forming mutualistic associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Pi-repleted plants are much less colonized by AM fungi than Pi-depleted plants. This indicates a link between plant Pi signaling and AM development. MicroRNAs (miR) of the 399 family are systemic Pi-starvation signals important for maintenance of Pi homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana and might also qualify as signals regulating AM development in response to Pi availability. MiR399 could either represent the systemic low-Pi signal promoting or required for AM formation or they could act as counter players of systemic Pi-availability signals that suppress AM symbiosis. To test either of these assumptions, we analyzed the miR399 family in the AM-capable plant model Medicago truncatula and could experimentally confirm 10 novel MIR399 genes in this species. Pi-depleted plants showed increased expression of mature miR399 and multiple pri-miR399, and unexpectedly, levels of five of the 15 pri-miR399 species were higher in leaves of mycorrhizal plants than in leaves of nonmycorrhizal plants. Compared with nonmycorrhizal Pi-depleted roots, mycorrhizal roots of Pi-depleted M. truncatula and tobacco plants had increased Pi contents due to symbiotic Pi uptake but displayed higher mature miR399 levels. Expression levels of MtPho2 remained low and PHO2-dependent Pi-stress marker transcript levels remained high in these mycorrhizal roots. Hence, an AM symbiosis-related signal appears to increase miR399 expression and decrease PHO2 activity. MiR399 overexpression in tobacco suggested that miR399 alone is not sufficient to improve mycorrhizal colonization supporting the assumption that, in mycorrhizal roots, increased miR399 are necessary to keep the MtPho2 expression and activity low, which would otherwise increase in response to symbiotic Pi uptake.


Author(s):  
Dong Huang ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Guangquan Jing ◽  
Mengnan Ma ◽  
Chao Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Most land plant species have the ability to establish a symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. These fungi penetrate into root cortical cells and form branched structures (known as arbuscules) for nutrient exchange. We cloned the MdIAA24 from apple (Malus domestica) following its up-regulation during AM symbiosis. Results demonstrate the positive impact of the overexpression (OE) of MdIAA24 in apple on AM colonization. We observed the strigolactone (SL) synthesis genes, including MdD27, MdCCD7, MdCCD8a, MdCCD8b and MdMAXa, to be up-regulated in the OE lines. Thus, the OE lines exhibited both a higher SL content and colonization rate. Furthermore, we observed that the OE lines were able to maintain better growth parameters under AM inoculation conditions. Under drought stress with the AM inoculation, the OE lines were less damaged, which was demonstrated by a higher relative water content, a lower relative electrolytic leakage, a greater osmotic adjustment, a higher reactive oxygen species scavenging ability, an improved gas exchange capacity and an increased chlorophyll fluorescence performance. Our findings demonstrate that the OE of MdIAA24 in apple positively regulates the synthesis of SL and the formation of arbuscules as a drought stress coping mechanism.


Botany ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (10) ◽  
pp. 913-921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Audet ◽  
Christiane Charest

This in-vitro study investigated the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis in root metal acquisition and stress tolerance from two experiments using a carrot root-organ culture system, and involving the essential micronutrient zinc as a typical metal contaminant. We demonstrated that the AM symbiosis plays a dual role in root metal acquisition by increasing nutrient uptake via mycorrhizal “enhanced uptake” at low (trace) metal concentrations in the growth medium, but then lessening the uptake through “metal-binding” processes at high (toxic) concentrations. Furthermore, we also observed the relative contribution of hyphal uptake and translocation to roots, which led us to suggest that the enhanced uptake and metal-binding processes likely occur simultaneously and (or) independently. Ultimately, symptoms of metal toxicity toward both the roots and AM fungi at the highest Zn exposure concentrations was observed. From this finding, a critical toxicity burden likely exists arising from conditions ranging from trace to toxic metal extremes.


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