Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Epichloë Endophytes Shape the Foliar Endophytic Fungal Microbiome and Alter the Auxin and Salicylic Acid Phytohormone Levels in Two Meadow Fescue Cultivars

Suni Anie Mathew
* ORCID logo ,
Marjo Helander
,
Kari Saikkonen
,
Radomira Vankova
ORCID logo ,
Petre I. Dobrev
ORCID logo ,
Serdar Dirihan
,
Benjamin Fuchs
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 24 November 2022 / Approved: 25 November 2022 / Online: 25 November 2022 (07:08:50 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Mathew, S.A.; Helander, M.; Saikkonen, K.; Vankova, R.; Dobrev, P.I.; Dirihan, S.; Fuchs, B. Epichloë Endophytes Shape the Foliar Endophytic Fungal Microbiome and Alter the Auxin and Salicylic Acid Phytohormone Levels in Two Meadow Fescue Cultivars. J. Fungi 2023, 9, 90. Mathew, S.A.; Helander, M.; Saikkonen, K.; Vankova, R.; Dobrev, P.I.; Dirihan, S.; Fuchs, B. Epichloë Endophytes Shape the Foliar Endophytic Fungal Microbiome and Alter the Auxin and Salicylic Acid Phytohormone Levels in Two Meadow Fescue Cultivars. J. Fungi 2023, 9, 90.

Abstract

Plants harbor a large diversity of endophytic microbes. Meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis) is a cool-season grass known for its symbiotic relationship to the systemic and vertically- via seeds - transmitted fungal endophyte Epichloë uncinata but the effect of the endophyte on the microbial endophyte community and phytohormones is largely unexplored. Here, we sequenced the endophytic bacterial and fungal communities in the leaves and roots, analyzed phytohormone concentrations and plant performance parameters in Epichloë-symbiotic (E+) and Epichloë-free (E-) individuals of two meadow fescue cultivars. The endophytic leaf microbial community differed between leaf and root tissues independent of endophyte symbiosis while the fungal community was different in leaves of Epichloë-symbiotic and Epichloë-free plants in both cultivars. At the same time, endophyte symbiosis decreased salicylic acid and increased auxin concentrations in leaves. Epichloë-symbiotic plants showed a higher biomass, chlorophyll content (SPAD) and higher seed mass at the end of the season. Our results demonstrate that Epichloë-symbiosis alters the leaf fungal microbiome, which coincides with changes in phytohormone concentrations, indicating that Epichloë endophytes affect both, plant immune responses and other fungal endophytes. Whether the effect of Epichloë endophytes on other fungal endophytes is connected to changes in the phytohormone concentrations remains to be elucidated.

Keywords

grass endophyte; Festuca; symbiosis; microbiome; plant hormone; defense response; plant-fungal interactions; holobiont

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Immunology and Microbiology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF Download Supplementary

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0
Get PDF Supplementary Files Cite Share 0
Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious
×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.