Abstract
Mycorrhizal plants are generally quite efficient in coping with environmental challenges. It has been shown that the symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can confer resistance against root and foliar pathogens, although the molecular mechanisms underlying such mycorrhiza-induced resistance (MIR) are poorly understood. Tomato plants colonized with the AMF Rhizophagus irregularis display enhanced resistance against the necrotrophic foliar pathogen Botrytis cinerea. Leaves from arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) plants develop smaller necrotic lesions, mirrored also by a reduced levels of fungal biomass. A plethora of metabolic changes takes place in AMF colonized plants upon infection. Certain changes located in the oxylipin pathway indicate that several intermediaries are over-accumulated in the AM upon infection. AM plants react by accumulating higher levels of the vitamins folic acid and riboflavin, indolic derivatives and phenolic compounds such as ferulic acid and chlorogenic acid. Transcriptional analysis support the key role played by the LOX pathway in the shoots associated with MIR against B. cinerea. Interestingly, plants that have suffered a short period of nitrogen starvation appear to react by reprogramming their metabolic and genetic responses by prioritizing abiotic stress tolerance. Consequently, plants subjected to a transient nitrogen depletion become more susceptible to B. cinerea. Under these experimental conditions, MIR is severely affected although still functional. Many metabolic and transcriptional responses which are accumulated or activated by MIR such NRT2 transcript induction and OPDA and most Trp and indolic derivatives accumulation during MIR were repressed or reduced when tomato plants were depleted of N for 48 h prior infection. These results highlight the beneficial roles of AMF in crop protection by promoting induced resistance not only under optimal nutritional conditions but also buffering the susceptibility triggered by transient N depletion.
Highlights
Beneficial microbe-plant associations are common in nature, and their benefits to plant health and their potential application in agriculture are under extensive scrutiny (Campos-Soriano and San Segundo, 2011; Smith and Smith, 2011)
mycorrhiza-induced resistance (MIR) Is Functional against B. cinerea in Tomato but a Transient N Deficiency Interferes with It, Reducing the Level of Resistance
Mycorrhiza-induced resistance has been shown to be functional against different biotic stressors such as pathogens and insects (Jung et al, 2012; Cameron et al, 2013; Smith and Smith, 2015)
Summary
Beneficial microbe-plant associations are common in nature, and their benefits to plant health and their potential application in agriculture are under extensive scrutiny (Campos-Soriano and San Segundo, 2011; Smith and Smith, 2011). Most reports suggest an induced resistance mechanism rather than increased tolerance or fungal competition between the AMF and the pathogen since AM plants are able to reduce the extent of the pathogen infection (Cordier et al, 1998; Campos-Soriano et al, 2011; Song et al, 2013; Hayek et al, 2014) This protection is known as mycorrhiza-induced resistance (MIR) (Pozo and Azcón-Aguilar, 2007; Jung et al, 2012) and in many respects resembles to rhizobacteria-induced systemic resistance (ISR) (Pieterse et al, 2014). There are reports describing the benefits in terms of fruit quality and plant fitness achieved mainly through improved uptake of phosphorous and nitrogen, there are reports showing a reduction in growth (Gianinazzi et al, 2010; Smith and Smith, 2011)
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