The herbaceous landlord: integrating the effects of symbiont consortia within a single host
Plants are typically infected by a consortium of internal fungal associates, including endophytes in their leaves, as well as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSE) in their roots. It is logical that these organisms will interact with each other and the abiotic environm...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2015-11-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/1379.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797419761429118976 |
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| author | Roo Vandegrift Bitty A. Roy Laurel Pfeifer-Meister Bart R. Johnson Scott D. Bridgham |
| author_facet | Roo Vandegrift Bitty A. Roy Laurel Pfeifer-Meister Bart R. Johnson Scott D. Bridgham |
| author_sort | Roo Vandegrift |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Plants are typically infected by a consortium of internal fungal associates, including endophytes in their leaves, as well as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSE) in their roots. It is logical that these organisms will interact with each other and the abiotic environment in addition to their host, but there has been little work to date examining the interactions of multiple symbionts within single plant hosts, or how the relationships among symbionts and their host change across environmental conditions. We examined the grass Agrostis capillaris in the context of a climate manipulation experiment in prairies in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Each plant was tested for presence of foliar endophytes in the genus Epichloë, and we measured percent root length colonized (PRLC) by AMF and DSE. We hypothesized that the symbionts in our system would be in competition for host resources, that the outcome of that competition could be driven by the benefit to the host, and that the host plants would be able to allocate carbon to the symbionts in such a way as to maximize fitness benefit within a particular environmental context. We found a correlation between DSE and AMF PRLC across climatic conditions; we also found a fitness cost to increasing DSE colonization, which was negated by presence of Epichloë endophytes. These results suggest that selective pressure on the host is likely to favor host/symbiont relationships that structure the community of symbionts in the most beneficial way possible for the host, not necessarily favoring the individual symbiont that is most beneficial to the host in isolation. These results highlight the need for a more integrative, systems approach to the study of host/symbiont consortia. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:52:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-37b58460c58f424fac53c7bd411daeea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:52:58Z |
| publishDate | 2015-11-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-37b58460c58f424fac53c7bd411daeea2023-12-03T10:16:22ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592015-11-013e137910.7717/peerj.1379The herbaceous landlord: integrating the effects of symbiont consortia within a single hostRoo Vandegrift0Bitty A. Roy1Laurel Pfeifer-Meister2Bart R. Johnson3Scott D. Bridgham4Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United StatesInstitute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United StatesInstitute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United StatesDepartment of Landscape Architecture, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United StatesInstitute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United StatesPlants are typically infected by a consortium of internal fungal associates, including endophytes in their leaves, as well as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSE) in their roots. It is logical that these organisms will interact with each other and the abiotic environment in addition to their host, but there has been little work to date examining the interactions of multiple symbionts within single plant hosts, or how the relationships among symbionts and their host change across environmental conditions. We examined the grass Agrostis capillaris in the context of a climate manipulation experiment in prairies in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Each plant was tested for presence of foliar endophytes in the genus Epichloë, and we measured percent root length colonized (PRLC) by AMF and DSE. We hypothesized that the symbionts in our system would be in competition for host resources, that the outcome of that competition could be driven by the benefit to the host, and that the host plants would be able to allocate carbon to the symbionts in such a way as to maximize fitness benefit within a particular environmental context. We found a correlation between DSE and AMF PRLC across climatic conditions; we also found a fitness cost to increasing DSE colonization, which was negated by presence of Epichloë endophytes. These results suggest that selective pressure on the host is likely to favor host/symbiont relationships that structure the community of symbionts in the most beneficial way possible for the host, not necessarily favoring the individual symbiont that is most beneficial to the host in isolation. These results highlight the need for a more integrative, systems approach to the study of host/symbiont consortia.https://peerj.com/articles/1379.pdfEpichloëAgrostis capillarisSymbiosisMycologyClimate changePrairies |
| spellingShingle | Roo Vandegrift Bitty A. Roy Laurel Pfeifer-Meister Bart R. Johnson Scott D. Bridgham The herbaceous landlord: integrating the effects of symbiont consortia within a single host PeerJ Epichloë Agrostis capillaris Symbiosis Mycology Climate change Prairies |
| title | The herbaceous landlord: integrating the effects of symbiont consortia within a single host |
| title_full | The herbaceous landlord: integrating the effects of symbiont consortia within a single host |
| title_fullStr | The herbaceous landlord: integrating the effects of symbiont consortia within a single host |
| title_full_unstemmed | The herbaceous landlord: integrating the effects of symbiont consortia within a single host |
| title_short | The herbaceous landlord: integrating the effects of symbiont consortia within a single host |
| title_sort | herbaceous landlord integrating the effects of symbiont consortia within a single host |
| topic | Epichloë Agrostis capillaris Symbiosis Mycology Climate change Prairies |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/1379.pdf |
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