Nodules and clocks: communication underground
November 2023
- Datum: 01.11.2023
- Uhrzeit: 14:00 - 15:30
- Vortragende(r): Miriam Gifford
- University of Warwick, UK
- Ort: Zentralgebäude
- Raum: Seminar Raum
- Gastgeber: John Lunn
Abstract:
Legumes
house nitrogen-fixing endosymbiotic rhizobia in root nodules that are factories
of metabolic activity whose activity is shaped by the plant, bacteria and
environment. Our recent work has approached each of these components to
understand how nodulation efficiency is shaped and controlled.
Nodules: By characterising microbial communities in Medicago truncatula inoculated with different rhizobial strains in three distinct soil types, we found that the rhizobial strain and symbiotic state can shape endosphere composition and plant nutrition. We also identified endosphere-located microbes whose abundance is associated with more efficient symbiosis and we are currently characterising interactions of these strains with both nodulating and non-nodulating plants.
Clocks: We
found that the efficiency of symbiosis is affected by the plant circadian clock
via LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY) activity. Rhythmic LHY-regulated transcripts
in root nodules include a subset of Nodule-specific Cysteine Rich peptides that
may coordinate of bacterial activity with the rhythms of the plant host to
ensure optimal symbiosis.
References:
Lagunas et al (2023) Rhizobial nitrogen fixation-efficiency shapes endosphere bacterial communities and Medicago truncatula host growth. Microbiome 11: 146.
Parkinson et al (2022) Polymer nanoparticles pass the plant interface. Nature Commun. 13: 7385.
Achom et al (2022) Plant clock control of
Medicago truncatula nodulation involving regulation of Nodule Cysteine-Rich
genes. Journal of Experimental Botany. 73: 2142-56.