Abiotic Treatment to Common Bean Plants Results in an Altered Endophytic Seed Microbiome
ABSTRACT There has been a growing interest in the seed microbiome due to its important role as an end and starting point of plant microbiome assembly that can have consequences for plant health. However, the effect of abiotic conditions on the seed microbial community remains unknown. We performed a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Microbiology Spectrum |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.00210-21 |
| _version_ | 1828406992073392128 |
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| author | A. Fina Bintarti Patrick J. Kearns Abby Sulesky-Grieb Ashley Shade |
| author_facet | A. Fina Bintarti Patrick J. Kearns Abby Sulesky-Grieb Ashley Shade |
| author_sort | A. Fina Bintarti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT There has been a growing interest in the seed microbiome due to its important role as an end and starting point of plant microbiome assembly that can have consequences for plant health. However, the effect of abiotic conditions on the seed microbial community remains unknown. We performed a pilot study in a controlled growth chamber to investigate how the endophytic seed microbiome of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. [var. Red Hawk]) was altered under abiotic treatments relevant for crop management with changing climate. Bean plants were subjected to one of three treatments: 66% water withholding to simulate mild drought, 50% Hoagland nutrient solution to simulate fertilization, or control with sufficient water and baseline nutrition. We performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS1) amplicon sequencing of the endophytic DNA to assess seed bacterial/archaeal and fungal community structure, respectively. We found that variability in the seed microbiome structure was high, while α-diversity was low, with tens of taxa present. Water withholding and nutrient addition significantly altered the seed microbiome structure for bacterial/archaeal communities compared to the control, and each treatment resulted in a distinct microbiome structure. Conversely, there were no statistically supported differences in the fungal microbiome across treatments. These promising results suggest that further investigation is needed to better understand abiotic or stress-induced changes in the seed microbiome, the mechanisms that drive those changes, and their implications for the health and stress responses of the next plant generation. IMPORTANCE Seed microbiome members initiate the assembly of plant-associated microbial communities, but the environmental drivers of endophytic seed microbiome composition are unclear. Here, we exposed plants to short-term drought and fertilizer treatments during early vegetative growth and quantified the microbiome composition of the seeds that were ultimately produced. We found that seeds produced by plants stressed by water limitation or receiving nutrient addition had statistically different endophytic bacterial/archaeal microbiome compositions from each other and from seeds produced by control plants. This work suggests that the abiotic experience of a parental plant can influence the composition of its seed microbiome, with unknown consequences for the next plant generation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T11:19:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b0cbd54347104330933dc4b3c8f01630 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2165-0497 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T11:19:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microbiology Spectrum |
| spelling | doaj.art-b0cbd54347104330933dc4b3c8f016302022-12-22T01:51:03ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologyMicrobiology Spectrum2165-04972022-04-0110210.1128/spectrum.00210-21Abiotic Treatment to Common Bean Plants Results in an Altered Endophytic Seed MicrobiomeA. Fina Bintarti0Patrick J. Kearns1Abby Sulesky-Grieb2Ashley Shade3Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USAThe Plant Resilience Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USAThe Plant Resilience Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USADepartment of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USAABSTRACT There has been a growing interest in the seed microbiome due to its important role as an end and starting point of plant microbiome assembly that can have consequences for plant health. However, the effect of abiotic conditions on the seed microbial community remains unknown. We performed a pilot study in a controlled growth chamber to investigate how the endophytic seed microbiome of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. [var. Red Hawk]) was altered under abiotic treatments relevant for crop management with changing climate. Bean plants were subjected to one of three treatments: 66% water withholding to simulate mild drought, 50% Hoagland nutrient solution to simulate fertilization, or control with sufficient water and baseline nutrition. We performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS1) amplicon sequencing of the endophytic DNA to assess seed bacterial/archaeal and fungal community structure, respectively. We found that variability in the seed microbiome structure was high, while α-diversity was low, with tens of taxa present. Water withholding and nutrient addition significantly altered the seed microbiome structure for bacterial/archaeal communities compared to the control, and each treatment resulted in a distinct microbiome structure. Conversely, there were no statistically supported differences in the fungal microbiome across treatments. These promising results suggest that further investigation is needed to better understand abiotic or stress-induced changes in the seed microbiome, the mechanisms that drive those changes, and their implications for the health and stress responses of the next plant generation. IMPORTANCE Seed microbiome members initiate the assembly of plant-associated microbial communities, but the environmental drivers of endophytic seed microbiome composition are unclear. Here, we exposed plants to short-term drought and fertilizer treatments during early vegetative growth and quantified the microbiome composition of the seeds that were ultimately produced. We found that seeds produced by plants stressed by water limitation or receiving nutrient addition had statistically different endophytic bacterial/archaeal microbiome compositions from each other and from seeds produced by control plants. This work suggests that the abiotic experience of a parental plant can influence the composition of its seed microbiome, with unknown consequences for the next plant generation.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.00210-21plant microbiome16S rRNA geneITSdroughtfertilizerlegume |
| spellingShingle | A. Fina Bintarti Patrick J. Kearns Abby Sulesky-Grieb Ashley Shade Abiotic Treatment to Common Bean Plants Results in an Altered Endophytic Seed Microbiome Microbiology Spectrum plant microbiome 16S rRNA gene ITS drought fertilizer legume |
| title | Abiotic Treatment to Common Bean Plants Results in an Altered Endophytic Seed Microbiome |
| title_full | Abiotic Treatment to Common Bean Plants Results in an Altered Endophytic Seed Microbiome |
| title_fullStr | Abiotic Treatment to Common Bean Plants Results in an Altered Endophytic Seed Microbiome |
| title_full_unstemmed | Abiotic Treatment to Common Bean Plants Results in an Altered Endophytic Seed Microbiome |
| title_short | Abiotic Treatment to Common Bean Plants Results in an Altered Endophytic Seed Microbiome |
| title_sort | abiotic treatment to common bean plants results in an altered endophytic seed microbiome |
| topic | plant microbiome 16S rRNA gene ITS drought fertilizer legume |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.00210-21 |
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