Relationships between Central Metabolism and Plant-Microbe Interactions

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant, Algae and Fungi Cell Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2023) | Viewed by 7120

Special Issue Editors

Proteome Regulation in Plants Lab, GPlantS Unit, Universidade Nova de Lisboa - Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Av. da República, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
Interests: plant growth/yield vs. response to environmental changes; regulation of plant metabolism; post-translational modifications; model plants and crops (rice); quantitative proteomics; mass spectrometry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
iPlantMicro Lab, Universidade Nova de Lisboa - Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Av. da República, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
Interests: plant-microbe interactions; biosafety; abiotic stress; microbiome in plant-beneficial relations; rhizosphere signalling
Institute for Mediterranean and Subtropical Horticulture ‘La Mayora’ (IHSM-UMA-CSIC), Campus de Teatinos, Avda. Louis Pasteur, 49, 29010 Málaga, Spain
Interests: plant-microbe interactions; biostimulation; plant response to abiotic stress modulated by microorganisms; regulation of plant metabolism by microorganisms

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Current research in plant-microbe interactions is becoming highly relevant as part of pest and pathogen control, biofertilization, sustainable production, or agro-industrial processes. These relationships are linked to a complex signaling and cross-communication system, most of them involving central metabolism and a set of compounds derived from secondary plant metabolism. From root exudates to volatiles, relation patterns between plants and microbes are delimited by a complex mix of C, N, and P-based compounds directly produced as part of or secondary linked to central metabolism pathways of the plant. However, many traits in the production, timing, or effects of many of them still remain unclear. Despite a good approach and resolution provided by metabolomic technics, concepts as kinetics (timing), cross-signaling, cell-to-cell transmission, or the involvement of mix composition in plant-microbe interaction is necessary to define activation/repression of symbiotic or defensive systems, specific compound production, or process development. By deciphering these traits, we will be able to discern communication patterns, define process-markers, and design effectors to induce anticipated plant responses. 

In this Special Issue, we would like to collect research and review papers, as well as short communication and editorial works, to illustrate what we achieved in the last years, show the present state of the field, identify key questions and future research directions, and last but not least, demonstrate how the central metabolism-related compounds contribute to the ecosystem relation between plant and microorganisms. 

We are prepared for the hard editorial work and hope to receive a great number of manuscripts reflecting the richness of our beautiful and exciting field.

Dr. Isabel A. Abreu
Dr. Juan Ignacio Vílchez
Dr. Rafael Morcillo
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 4736 KiB  
Article
Endophytic Fungi as Potential Biocontrol Agents against Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc.—The Causal Agent of Peanut White Stem Rot Disease
by Mohammad Reza Safari Motlagh, Maryam Farokhzad, Behzad Kaviani and Dariusz Kulus
Cells 2022, 11(17), 2643; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/cells11172643 - 25 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4301
Abstract
Peanut stem white rot caused by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. is a soil-borne disease that is widely prevailing across peanut farms, leading to serious economic losses. Screening for biocontrol agents against this pathogen is urgent. In this research, 166 fungal isolates including 136 isolates [...] Read more.
Peanut stem white rot caused by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. is a soil-borne disease that is widely prevailing across peanut farms, leading to serious economic losses. Screening for biocontrol agents against this pathogen is urgent. In this research, 166 fungal isolates including 136 isolates of S. rolfsii and 30 isolates of antagonistic endophytic fungi were obtained from a total of 220 samples collected from peanut farms in Guilan province, Iran. After morphological and molecular identification, six superior endophytic isolates were finally selected for the in vitro and greenhouse trials, including four isolates from Trichoderma viride, Trichoderma virens, Penicillium decaturense, and Aspergillus flavus and two isolates from Penicillium rubens. Four methods of biocontrol were used during the in vitro phase, i.e., dual culture, volatile metabolites assay, non-volatile metabolites assay (culture extract), and slide culture. It was found that T. virens had the highest capability of suppressing the mycelial growth of S. rolfsii in the dual culture method (90.98%). As for the volatile metabolites assay, the most effective isolates in inhibiting the pathogen’s mycelial growth were P. rubens (MN395854.1) and A. flavus (84.30% and 73.50% inhibition, respectively). In the non-volatile metabolites method, the isolates that performed the best in suppressing the mycelial growth of S. rolfsii were T. viride and P. rubens (MN395854.1) with 91.80% and 90.20% inhibitory effects, respectively. On the other hand, in the slide culture method, all isolates, except for T. virens and T. viride, successfully controlled the development of S. rolfsii hyphae. The greenhouse trials also supported the effectiveness of endophytic fungi in controlling the pathogen on the host plants. According to the results, T. viride, A. flavus, and P. rubens (MN395854.1) were 44%, 42%, and 38% effective in alleviating the disease incidence and severity. Moreover, the application of these antagonistic fungi in the greenhouse conditions increased the height, fresh weight, and dry weight of the Arachis hypogaea plants infected with the disease causal agent compared to the plants treated only with the pathogen. The results of the in vitro and greenhouse experiments revealed that the endophytic fungi occurring in the natural microbiota of peanut are capable of bio-controlling S. rolfsii, the causal agent of peanut stem white rot disease. These findings shed new insights into the possible resistance induction in A. hypogaea plants through biological protection. Full article
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23 pages, 3970 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Oulema melanopus—Associated Bacteria on the Wheat Defense Response to the Feeding of Their Insect Hosts
by Beata Wielkopolan, Patryk Frąckowiak, Przemysław Wieczorek and Aleksandra Obrępalska-Stęplowska
Cells 2022, 11(15), 2342; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/cells11152342 - 29 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2015
Abstract
Wheat production is threatened by the destructive effects of numerous pests, including Oulema melanopus (cereal leaf beetle, CLB). Both adults and larvae of CLB damage grain crops, but the target of insecticide treatments are the larvae. Insect-associated bacteria are important for many of [...] Read more.
Wheat production is threatened by the destructive effects of numerous pests, including Oulema melanopus (cereal leaf beetle, CLB). Both adults and larvae of CLB damage grain crops, but the target of insecticide treatments are the larvae. Insect-associated bacteria are important for many of the insects’ life processes and may also modulate plant defense responses to feeding of their insect host. The aim of our study was to elucidate the early wheat plants’ reaction to this herbivore feeding and to disclose the CLB-associated bacteria modulation of the wheat-insect interactions. Transcriptome analyses were performed for the leaves wounded mechanically and by feeding of the CLB larvae as well as for the distal leaves to study both, the plant’s local and systemic response. Comparative transcriptome analysis indicated that 24 h after the plant treatment, a much larger number of up-regulated DEGs in damaged leaves was noted, especially those on which larvae were fed. It may suggest that at the analysed time point, the local response was stronger than the systemic one. In the leaves on which larvae with natural bacterial flora were fed (local response), the number of up- and down-regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was 7136 and 7411, respectively, in comparison to the dataset obtained for the leaves wounded by larvae with a reduced number of bacteria. In the distal leaves, 3015 up- and 2372 down-regulated DEGs were noted. CLB-associated bacteria were found to affect many aspects of the physiology of wheat plants, especially in wounded leaves, including the expression of genes related to primary metabolism, phytohormone signaling and photosynthesis. We also observed that CLB-associated bacteria mitigated numerous anti-herbivore processes and pathways associated with the synthesis of metabolites and proteins, potentially harmful to the insects. The bacteria also reversed the expression of some genes involved, inter alia, in the phosphorylation of proteins, oxidative stress, cell wall organization, and biogenesis. Understanding the role of CLB-associated bacteria in the plant’s defense response will be important to the fields of pest control and herbivore and its host ecology and evolution. Full article
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