Tomato growth promotion by the fungal endophytes Serendipita indica and Serendipita herbamans is associated with sucrose de-novo synthesis in roots and differential local and systemic effects on carbohydrate metabolisms and gene expression

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

Plant growth-promoting and stress resilience-inducing root endophytic fungi represent an additional carbohydrate sink. This study aims to test if such root endophytes affect the sugar metabolism of the host plant to divert the flow of resources for their purposes. Fresh and dry weights of roots and shoots of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) colonised by the closely related Serendipita indica and Serendipita herbamans were recorded. Plant carbohydrate metabolism was analysed by measuring sugar levels, by determining activity signatures of key enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism, and by quantifying mRNA levels of genes involved in sugar transport and turnover. During the interaction with the tomato plants, both fungi promoted root growth and shifted shoot biomass from stem to leaf tissues, resulting in increased leaf size. A common effect induced by both fungi was the inhibition of phosphofructokinase (PFK) in roots and leaves. This glycolytic-pacing enzyme shows how the glycolysis rate is reduced in plants and, eventually, how sugars are allocated to different tissues. Sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) activity was strongly induced in colonised roots. This was accompanied by increased SPS-A1 gene expression in S. herbamans-colonised roots and by increased sucrose amounts in roots colonised by S. indica. Other enzyme activities were barely affected by S. indica, but mainly induced in leaves of S. herbamans-colonised plants and decreased in roots. This study suggests that two closely related root endophytic fungi differentially influence plant carbohydrate metabolism locally and systemically, but both induce a similar increase in plant biomass. Notably, both fungal endophytes induce an increase in SPS activity and, in the case of S. indica, sucrose resynthesis in roots. In leaves of S. indica-colonised plants, SWEET11b expression was enhanced, thus we assume that excess sucrose was exported by this transporter to the roots. ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer153755
TidsskriftJournal of Plant Physiology
Vol/bind276
Antal sider12
ISSN0176-1617
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2022

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 676480 and from the Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food, and Agriculture of the Federal Republic of Germany, from the Ministry for Science, Research, and Culture of the State of Brandenburg, and from the Thuringian Ministry of Infrastructure and Agriculture. Since 2019, PF is funded by the Thuringian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science, and Digital Society. TR is funded by thse Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic as part of the National Sustainability Programme I (NPU I) , grant number LO1415 .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022

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