The role of mycorrhizae and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in improving crop productivity under stressful environments.

Pathogenesis-related proteins and peptides as promising tools for engineering plants with multiple stress tolerance.

The present review discusses the impact of heavy metals on the growth of plants at different concentrations, paying particular attention to the hormesis effect. Within the past decade, study of the hormesis phenomenon has generated considerable interest because it was considered not only in the framework of plant growth stimulation but also as an adaptive response of plants to a low level of stress which in turn can play an important role in their responses to other stress factors. In this review, we focused on the defence mechanisms of plants as a response to different metal ion doses and during the crosstalk between metal ions and biotic stressors such as insects and pathogenic fungi. Issues relating to metal ion acquisition and ion homeostasis that may be essential for the survival of plants, pathogens and herbivores competing in the same environment were highlighted. Besides, the influence of heavy metals on insects, especially aphids and pathogenic fungi, was shown. Our intention was also to shed light on the relationship between heavy metals deposition in the environment and ecological communities formed under a strong selective pressure.

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/23/9/2320/pdf

The Role of Heavy Metals in Plant Response to Biotic Stress.

Chitin is the second abundant polysaccharide in the world after cellulose. It is a vital structural component of the fungal cell wall but not for plants. In plants, fungi are recognised through the perception of conserved microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) to induce MAMP-triggered immunity (MTI). Chitin polymers and their modified form, chitosan, induce host defence responses in both monocotyledons and dicotyledons. The plants' response to chitin, chitosan, and derived oligosaccharides depends on the acetylation degree of these compounds which indicates possible biocontrol regulation of plant immune system. There has also been a considerable amount of recent research aimed at elucidating the roles of chitin hydrolases in fungi and plants as chitinase production in plants is not considered solely as an antifungal resistance mechanism. We discuss the importance of chitin forms and chitinases in the plant-fungal interactions and their role in persistent and possible biocontrol. Abbreviations ET, ethylene; GAP, GTPase-activating protein; GEF, GDP/GTP exchange factor; JA, jasmonic acid; LysM, lysin motif; MAMP, microbe-associated molecular pattern; MTI, MAMP-triggered immunity; NBS, nucleotide-binding site; NBS-LRR, nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeats; PM, powdery mildew; PR, pathogenesis-related; RBOH, respiratory burst oxidase homolog; RLK, receptor-like kinase; RLP, receptor-like protein; SA, salicylic acid; TF, transcription factor.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/21501203.2018.1473299

Chitin and chitin-related compounds in plant-fungal interactions.

Beneficial fungi in the genus Trichoderma are among the most widespread biocontrol agents of plant pathogens. Their role in triggering plant defenses against pathogens has been intensely investigated, while, in contrast, very limited information is available on induced barriers active against insects. The growing experimental evidence on this latter topic looks promising, and paves the way toward the development of Trichoderma strains and/or consortia active against multiple targets. However, the predictability and reproducibility of the effects that these beneficial fungi is still somewhat limited by the lack of an in-depth understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the specificity of their interaction with different crop varieties, and on how the environmental factors modulate this interaction. To fill this research gap, here we studied the transcriptome changes in tomato plants (cultivar "Dwarf San Marzano") induced by Trichoderma harzianum (strain T22) colonization and subsequent infestation by the aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae. A wide transcriptome reprogramming, related to metabolic processes, regulation of gene expression and defense responses, was induced both by separate experimental treatments, which showed a synergistic interaction when concurrently applied. The most evident expression changes of defense genes were associated with the multitrophic interaction Trichoderma-tomato-aphid. Early and late genes involved in direct defense against insects were induced (i.e., peroxidase, GST, kinases and polyphenol oxidase, miraculin, chitinase), along with indirect defense genes, such as sesquiterpene synthase and geranylgeranyl phosphate synthase. Targeted and untargeted semi-polar metabolome analysis revealed a wide metabolome alteration showing an increased accumulation of isoprenoids in Trichoderma treated plants. The wide array of transcriptomic and metabolomics changes nicely fit with the higher mortality of aphids when feeding on Trichoderma treated plants, herein reported, and with the previously observed attractiveness of these latter toward the aphid parasitoid Aphidius ervi. Moreover, Trichoderma treated plants showed the over-expression of transcripts coding for several families of defense-related transcription factors (bZIP, MYB, NAC, AP2-ERF, WRKY), suggesting that the fungus contributes to the priming of plant responses against pest insects. Collectively, our data indicate that Trichoderma treatment of tomato plants induces transcriptomic and metabolomic changes, which underpin both direct and indirect defense responses.

/pdf/transcriptome-and-metabolome-reprogramming-in-tomato-plants-4eq6p3ay6b.pdf

Transcriptome and Metabolome Reprogramming in Tomato Plants by Trichoderma harzianum strain T22 Primes and Enhances Defense Responses Against Aphids.

Expression analysis of chitinase upon challenge inoculation to Alternaria wounding and defense inducers in Brassica juncea.

The beneficial effects of a Glomus deserticola strain isolated from the rhizosphere of grasses (belonging to Poaceae family) growing along the industrial waste from a distillery were investigated under stress conditions. The study was conducted to assess the efficacy of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal ecotype in salinity and heavy metal (HM) tolerance of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) in soils amended with various stress levels of NaCl, zinc and cadmium. Mycorrhizal (M) seedlings produced a significantly (p < 0.05) greater growth response and were more tolerant to salt and HM stresses than nonmycorrhizal (NM) seedlings in all treatments. The HM contents in the plant tissues were significantly higher in M than NM eggplants. Furthermore, when the efficacy was compared with other AM isolates in HM-polluted soils with Sudan grass (Sorghum sudanese Staph.) as a test plant, the AM ecotype responded best to these soils, as evident from the significantly greater growth response and its aggressiveness in c...

Effects of inoculation with stress-adapted arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus deserticola on growth of Solanum melogena L. and Sorghum sudanese Staph. seedlings under salinity and heavy metal stress conditions

Protein glutathionylation protects wheat (Triticum aestivum Var. Sonalika) against Fusarium induced oxidative stress

Trichoderma viride (Pers.) pre-inoculated wheat seedlings infected with Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. (co-stressed) did not show wilting symptoms compared to Fusarium infected seedlings. Antagonistic activity of T. viride could be demonstrated against Fusarium infection by dual culture experiment. After seven days post infection, morphological and physiological parameters such as, root and shoot length, fresh and dry weight, relative water content, total soluble protein, total chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were observed to be increased in co-stressed compared to Fusarium infected seedlings. Accumulation of hydrogen peroxide was enhanced in Fusarium infected tissues compared to co-stressed. Trichoderma mediated activation of antioxidant enzymes such as, catalase, guaiacol peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase in co-stressed seedlings indicated their involvement in enhanced resistance against Fusarium infection, which is suggestive of playing crucial role in mitigating cellular...

Alleviation of Fusarium oxysporum induced oxidative stress in wheat by Trichoderma viride

The full-length pathogen-inducible plant defensin gene encoding 80 amino acid sequences of pathogen-related gene PR12 (Bjdefensin) was isolated from Brassica juncea Conserved domain (CD) search reveals its similarity with gamma thionin and knottins families of plant antimicrobial peptides The protein blast reveals more than 80% of its similarity with defensin-like protein of Brassica rapa and Camelina sativa Gene expression studies revealed that the transcript levels of Bjdefensin gene increases significantly upon Alternaria infection, jasmonic acid and wounding treatments but was not induced by salicylic acid To further study the stress-inducible regulation of Bjdefensin gene, its promoter (25 kb) was isolated and cloned upstream of GUS gene in pORER2 vector In silico studies of Bjdefensin promoter showed many important conserved cis-elements, responsive to biotic and abiotic stresses Histochemical GUS assay showed pathogen-inducible expression of Bjdefensin promoter after fungal infection Bjdefensin promoter was also induced by Jasmonic acid and wounding

Bhabatosh Mittra

Papers

Expression analysis of chitinase upon challenge inoculation to Alternaria wounding and defense inducers in Brassica juncea.

Effects of inoculation with stress-adapted arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus deserticola on growth of Solanum melogena L. and Sorghum sudanese Staph. seedlings under salinity and heavy metal stress conditions

Protein glutathionylation protects wheat (Triticum aestivum Var. Sonalika) against Fusarium induced oxidative stress

Alleviation of Fusarium oxysporum induced oxidative stress in wheat by Trichoderma viride

Isolation and expression analysis of defensin gene and its promoter from Brassica juncea