Pathogen-induced activation of disease-suppressive functions in the endophytic root microbiome.

Abstract

Microorganisms living inside plants can promote plant growth and health, but their genomic and functional diversity remain largely elusive. Here, metagenomics and network inference show that fungal infection of plant roots enriched for Chitinophagaceae and Flavobacteriaceae in the root endosphere and for chitinase genes and various unknown biosynthetic gene clusters encoding the production of nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) and polyketide synthases (PKSs). After strain-level genome reconstruction, a consortium of Chitinophaga and Flavobacterium was designed that consistently suppressed fungal root disease. Site-directed mutagenesis then revealed that a previously unidentified NRPS-PKS gene cluster from Flavobacterium was essential for disease suppression by the endophytic consortium. Our results highlight that endophytic root microbiomes harbor a wealth of as yet unknown functional traits that, in concert, can protect the plant inside out.

• Authors: Víctor J Carrión, Juan Perez-Jaramillo, Viviane Cordovez, Vittorio Tracanna, Mattias de Hollander, Daniel Ruiz-Buck, Lucas W Mendes, Wilfred F J van Ijcken, Ruth Gomez-Exposito, Somayah S Elsayed, Prarthana Mohanraju, Adini Arifah, John van der Oost, Joseph N Paulson, Rodrigo Mendes, Gilles P van Wezel, Marnix H Medema, Jos M Raaijmakers
• Journal: Science (New York, N.Y.) (Science) Vol. 366 Issue 6465 Pg. 606-612 (11 01 2019) ISSN: 1095-9203 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 31672892 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Chemical References

• Polyketide Synthases
• Chitinases
• Peptide Synthases
• non-ribosomal peptide synthase

Topics

• Bacteria (classification)
• Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
• Bacteroidetes (physiology)
• Beta vulgaris (microbiology)
• Biodiversity
• Chitinases (genetics)
• Disease Resistance
• Endophytes (physiology)
• Flavobacterium (physiology)
• Genes, Bacterial
• Genome, Bacterial
• Metagenome
• Microbiota
• Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
• Peptide Synthases (genetics)
• Plant Diseases (microbiology)
• Plant Roots (microbiology)
• Polyketide Synthases (genetics)
• Rhizoctonia (pathogenicity)
• Soil Microbiology