A new endophytic fungus CJAN1179 isolated from the Cholistan desert promotes lateral root growth in Arabidopsis and produces IAA through tryptophan-dependent pathway

Adeela Naureen,Florian M W Grundler,Muhammad S Choudhary,A Sylvia S Schleker,Muhammad Ashraf,Faiz-Ul H Nasim

doi:10.1007/s00203-022-02768-2

Adeela Naureen, Florian M W Grundler + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-022-02768-2

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Abstract

Fungi, important for growth of plants in arid lands, are expected to be involved in novel biochemical activities during fungal–plant interactions. We isolated 150 fungi associated with rhizosphere and root endosphere of two perennial grasses, Cymbopogon jwarancusa and Panicum antidotale, from Cholistan desert. The isolates were screened for their impact on plant growth and development using Arabidopsis thaliana (Col-0) as a model system. A root-endophytic fungus CJAN1179 from C. jwarancusa showed the highest plant growth-promoting effects. The most remarkable was enhanced number of lateral roots (3.1-fold). CJAN1179 produced indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) particularly in the presence of tryptophan. ITS sequence and phylogenetic analysis characterisation suggested the fungus to be a new species within Sordariomycetidae. CJAN1179 appears to promote plant growth by secreting IAA using tryptophan as a precursor. This fungus can be further explored for its suitability to promote growth of commercially important crops, particularly in arid regions.

Highlights

Activities of a great variety of microorganisms including rhizospheric and endophytic fungi living in association with plants influence plant phenotype and developmentCommunicated by Olaf Kniemeyer.(Rodriguez et al 2009; Lugtenberg et al 2013)
Our results show that this fungus, CJAN1179, is a mutualistic fungus that promotes plant growth by producing indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), which mediates lateral root growth via a tryptophan-dependent mechanism
We demonstrate the role of a root-endophytic fungus CJAN1179 during fungus–plant interaction

Summary

Introduction

Activities of a great variety of microorganisms including rhizospheric and endophytic fungi living in association with plants influence plant phenotype and developmentCommunicated by Olaf Kniemeyer.(Rodriguez et al 2009; Lugtenberg et al 2013). Plants growing and surviving in habitats with extreme climatic conditions such as arid soils develop functional diversity and the root-associated microbial populations must be contributing their important role here (Zuo et al 2015). Root-associated microbial communities of desert plants have been suggested as an important factor responsible for adaptation of desert plants to the harsh desert environment (Bhatnagar and Bhatnagar 2005; Cherif et al 2015; Makhalanyane et al 2015). It is, of high interest to explore the diversity and role of microorganisms originating from desert plants for plant growth and survival.

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