Elena Tello-García, Lucía Laorden-Camacho, Marie-Noëlle Binet, Camille Marchal, Sandra Lavorel, Karl Grigulis, Bello Mouhamadou, Anna-Lena Neunteufel, Erich Tasser, Ulrike Tappeiner, Ursula Peintne…

Aims Our objective was to assess whether mycorrhization could enhance the resilience of young Cabernet Sauvignon in its first year of production to elevated temperatures under current and future atmos...

In this ‘Behind the Paper blog post, author Elena Tello-García – a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Innsbruck – discusses “Shrub encroachment influences root traits and mycorrhiz…

Intracellular infection by beneficial microorganisms enables endosymbiosis and remains a challenge in synthetic biology. A new study by Qiao et al. reveals that a formin orchestrates both rhizobial infection in legumes and mycorrhization in diverse plants. Harnessing this mechanism could enable the engineering of microbial entry into crops for sustainable nutrient acquisition.

• Impacts of partial and full herbicide scheme were studied in field conditions. • Scheme: glyphosate+clethodim+dicamba; glyphosate+metolachlor+flumioxazin; fomesafen. • The full herbicide scheme did not affect mycorrhiza colonization or phosphorous in shoots. • Transient effects on mycorrhiza and phosphorous content in shoots arose. • Vesicle formation was the most sensitive endpoint.

During arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) symbiosis AM fungi form tree-shaped structures called arbuscules in root cortex cells of host plants. Arbuscules ...

Post-doctoral assistant department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics

In the heterogeneous and fluctuating environments in which plants grow, they must efficiently acquire essential nutrients to sustain growth and development. Root endosymbioses, including dinitrogen (N2)-fixing nodulation and arbuscular mycorrhization, enable plants to cope with limitations of soil mineral nutrients, such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Secreted signaling peptides have recently emerged as key regulators of these two evolutionarily related endosymbioses, including the C-TERMINALLY ENCODED PEPTIDES (CEPs) and the CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION RELATED (CLE) peptides. By elucidating the intricate relationships between these signaling peptides and nutrient dynamics, we highlight in this review their potential as targets for coordinating and prioritizing plant nutrition in limiting environments.

Grasses, including major cereal crops, associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi to varying degrees depending on environmental conditions. Understanding mechanisms driving this environment-induced variation in mycorrhization, i.e. plant AM plasticity, is necessary to predict grass-mycorrhizal responses to global change factors, such as nutrient enrichment, and to resolve the role of AM symbiosis in cereal crop production. We compared AM plasticity in four cereal crops by testing the effect of nitrogen (N) fertilization on AM colonization and root PLFA 16:1ω5 concentration. To assess whether mycorrhization patterns reflect root functional traits, we compared specific root length among species. To determine whether plants regulate AM colonization qualitatively (by selectively associating with certain AM taxa) or quantitatively (by collectively suppressing colonization across taxa), we investigated directional shifts and variability in AM community structure in response to N fertilization. AM colonization varied between cereal species and was reduced by N fertilization, but we found limited evidence for interspecific differences in AM plasticity. Winter wheat appeared less AM responsive and associated more with uncultured AM fungi compared to the three spring-sown cereal species, oat, spring wheat and spring barley. Fertilization did not affect AM community composition, and within-species variation in AM community β-dispersion did not covary with variation in AM colonization or PLFA 16:1ω5 concentration. These results support the view that host plants regulate arbuscular mycorrhization quantitatively rather than through taxonomic selectivity. We propose AM plasticity as a plant-mycorrhizal trait to be used for more accurate predictions of plant environmental responses in eco-physiological and agroecological research.

Increasing species diversity in agroecosystems appears as a promising venue to restore or increase soil organic carbon (SOC). It has been hypothesized…

The nuclear pore complex controls the movement of proteins into and out of the nucleus, allowing cells to regulate protein localization and abundance. This process influences how organisms respond to environmental stimuli. Components of the nuclear pore complex, including the NUP107-160 sub-complex, NUP133, NUP85, and NENA, are required for root nodulation and arbuscular mycorrhization in Lotus japonicus. However, the specific role of these nucleoporins in symbiotic signaling was poorly understood. Through reverse genetics, we discovered that NUP133 is also required for symbiosis in Medicago truncatula, although the mutant phenotypes were less pronounced than in Lotus. Overexpression of the symbiotic ion channels Medicago DMI1 and Lotus Castor and Pollux in the Lotus Ljnup133, Ljnup85, and Ljnena mutants partially alleviated the nodulation defects. Notably, in NUP107-160 sub-complex mutants of Lotus and Medicago, the accumulation of GFP-labeled Pollux and DMI1 on the inner nuclear membrane was reduced, indicating the NUP107-160 sub-complex plays a key role in regulating the distribution of DMI1 and Pollux on the nuclear envelope. This highlights the extreme sensitivity of nodulation in Lotus to changes in the abundance of Pollux on the inner nuclear membrane. In contrast, Medicago appears to exhibit greater tolerance to alterations in the distribution of DMI1 on the nuclear envelope.

Symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi are crucial drivers of ecosystem functioning through their associations with plants. Ecosystems dominated by different types of mycorrhizal fungi, such as ectomycorrhizal fungi (EM) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, often exhibit variation in plant productivity. However, the mechanisms underlying these differences and their dependence on environmental context remain unclear. Furthermore, the lack of robust, fine-scale evidence linking plant productivity to measurable indicators of mycorrhizal colonization or dominance, together with limited information on environmental variables, constrains accurate global-scale modeling of mycorrhizal effects on ecosystem functioning. In this study, we synthesize existing knowledge on the competitive and complementary interactions between the two dominant mycorrhizal types. Building on this synthesis, we propose a new conceptual framework to describe the context-dependent and often idiosyncratic nature of these interactions. We then present case studies and a meta-analysis spanning local to global scales, examining how vegetation biomass is related to mycorrhizal colonization or dominance under different environmental conditions. Our findings indicate that mycorrhizal types and environmental variables interactively shape ecosystem productivity in a dynamic and resilient manner. This work offers a new foundation for spatially explicit, locally informed assessments of how mycorrhizal influence vegetation productivity across contrasting environmental constraints.

Background Plant microbiomes play crucial roles in nutrient cycling and plant growth, and are shaped by a complex interplay between plants, microbes, and the environment. The role of bacteria as media...

Intracellular infection by beneficial microorganisms enables endosymbiosis and remains a challenge in synthetic biology. A new study by Qiao et al. reveals that a formin orchestrates both rhizobial infection in legumes and mycorrhization in diverse plants. Harnessing this mechanism could enable the engineering of microbial entry into crops for sustainable nutrient acquisition.

Interactions between plants can involve a wide variety of mechanisms. Oak regeneration failure in the presence of moor grass in European temperate forests

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods of cultivating genetically altered plants with increased activity of one or more of a NODULATION SIGNALING PATHWAY 1 (NSP1) protein or a NODULATION SIGNALING PATHWAY 2 (NSP2) protein that have increased mycorrhization and/or promoted symbiotic responses under high phosphate and/or high nitrate conditions. Further aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods of cultivating genetically altered plants with increased activity of a C-TERMINALLY ENCODED PEPTIDE (CEP peptide) that have increased mycorrhization and/or promoted symbiotic responses under high phosphate and/or high nitrate conditions. In addition, aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods of cultivating these plants that include exogenous application of strigolactones, karrikins, and/or CEP peptides to increase mycorrhization and/or promote symbiotic responses under specific nutrient conditions.

Factors affecting the deposition of carbon and nitrogen into the rhizosphere soil have important implications for natural and managed ecosystems. These include the invasiveness of plants, extent to wh...