Root Fungal Endophytes and Microbial Extracellular Enzyme Activities Show Patterned Responses in Tall Fescues under Drought Conditions
Plant response to water stress can be modified by the rhizosphere microbial community, but the range of responses across plant genotypes is unclear. We imposed drought conditions on 116 <i>Festuca arundinacea</i> (tall fescue) accessions using a rainout shelter for 46 days, followed by i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/8/1076 |
| _version_ | 1797561276749053952 |
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| author | Kevin Panke-Buisse Liang Cheng Huijie Gan Kyle Wickings Marty Petrovic Jenny Kao-Kniffin |
| author_facet | Kevin Panke-Buisse Liang Cheng Huijie Gan Kyle Wickings Marty Petrovic Jenny Kao-Kniffin |
| author_sort | Kevin Panke-Buisse |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Plant response to water stress can be modified by the rhizosphere microbial community, but the range of responses across plant genotypes is unclear. We imposed drought conditions on 116 <i>Festuca arundinacea</i> (tall fescue) accessions using a rainout shelter for 46 days, followed by irrigation, to stimulate drought recovery in 24 days. We hypothesized that prolonged water deficit results in a range of phenotypic diversity (i.e., green color index) across tall fescue genotypes that are associated with distinct microbial taxonomic and functional traits impacting plant drought tolerance. Microbial extracellular enzyme activities of chitinase and phenol oxidase (targeting chitin and lignin) increased in rhizospheres of the 20 most drought tolerant genotypes. Lower rates of fungal (dark septate) endophyte root infection were found in roots of the most drought tolerant genotypes. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS sequencing showed shifts in microbial communities across water deficit conditions prior to drought, during drought, and at drought recovery, but was not patterned by drought tolerance levels of the plant host. The results suggest that taxonomic information from bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS sequences provided little indication of microbial composition impacting drought tolerance of the host plant, but instead, microbial extracellular enzyme activities and root fungal infection results revealed patterned responses from drought. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:11:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-18c850e0340d4734a0145fcca0212c58 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:11:44Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-18c850e0340d4734a0145fcca0212c582023-11-20T07:59:46ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952020-07-01108107610.3390/agronomy10081076Root Fungal Endophytes and Microbial Extracellular Enzyme Activities Show Patterned Responses in Tall Fescues under Drought ConditionsKevin Panke-Buisse0Liang Cheng1Huijie Gan2Kyle Wickings3Marty Petrovic4Jenny Kao-Kniffin5USDA-ARS, U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, 1925 Linden Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USASchool of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, 135 Plant Science, Ithaca, NY 14850, USASchool of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, 135 Plant Science, Ithaca, NY 14850, USADepartment of Entomology, Cornell University, AgriTech, Geneva, NY 14456, USASchool of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, 135 Plant Science, Ithaca, NY 14850, USASchool of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, 135 Plant Science, Ithaca, NY 14850, USAPlant response to water stress can be modified by the rhizosphere microbial community, but the range of responses across plant genotypes is unclear. We imposed drought conditions on 116 <i>Festuca arundinacea</i> (tall fescue) accessions using a rainout shelter for 46 days, followed by irrigation, to stimulate drought recovery in 24 days. We hypothesized that prolonged water deficit results in a range of phenotypic diversity (i.e., green color index) across tall fescue genotypes that are associated with distinct microbial taxonomic and functional traits impacting plant drought tolerance. Microbial extracellular enzyme activities of chitinase and phenol oxidase (targeting chitin and lignin) increased in rhizospheres of the 20 most drought tolerant genotypes. Lower rates of fungal (dark septate) endophyte root infection were found in roots of the most drought tolerant genotypes. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS sequencing showed shifts in microbial communities across water deficit conditions prior to drought, during drought, and at drought recovery, but was not patterned by drought tolerance levels of the plant host. The results suggest that taxonomic information from bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS sequences provided little indication of microbial composition impacting drought tolerance of the host plant, but instead, microbial extracellular enzyme activities and root fungal infection results revealed patterned responses from drought.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/8/1076endophytemicrobiomerhizospherechitinaselignin |
| spellingShingle | Kevin Panke-Buisse Liang Cheng Huijie Gan Kyle Wickings Marty Petrovic Jenny Kao-Kniffin Root Fungal Endophytes and Microbial Extracellular Enzyme Activities Show Patterned Responses in Tall Fescues under Drought Conditions Agronomy endophyte microbiome rhizosphere chitinase lignin |
| title | Root Fungal Endophytes and Microbial Extracellular Enzyme Activities Show Patterned Responses in Tall Fescues under Drought Conditions |
| title_full | Root Fungal Endophytes and Microbial Extracellular Enzyme Activities Show Patterned Responses in Tall Fescues under Drought Conditions |
| title_fullStr | Root Fungal Endophytes and Microbial Extracellular Enzyme Activities Show Patterned Responses in Tall Fescues under Drought Conditions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Root Fungal Endophytes and Microbial Extracellular Enzyme Activities Show Patterned Responses in Tall Fescues under Drought Conditions |
| title_short | Root Fungal Endophytes and Microbial Extracellular Enzyme Activities Show Patterned Responses in Tall Fescues under Drought Conditions |
| title_sort | root fungal endophytes and microbial extracellular enzyme activities show patterned responses in tall fescues under drought conditions |
| topic | endophyte microbiome rhizosphere chitinase lignin |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/8/1076 |
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