Flowering‐mediated root‐fungus symbiosis loss is related to jasmonate‐dependent root soluble sugar deprivation

• Published in: Plant, cell and environment Vol. 42; no. 12; pp. 3208 - 3226
• Main Authors: Zhang, Wei, Yuan, Jie, Cheng, Ting, Tang, Meng‐Jun, Sun, Kai, Song, Shi‐Li, Xu, Fang‐Ji, Dai, Chuan‐Chao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.12.2019
• Subjects: Arabidopsis thaliana; Carbohydrate metabolism; Carbohydrates; Colonization; Depletion; Deprivation; Developmental stages; Diurnal; Flowering; Fructose; Fungi; Glucose; Inoculation; Invertase; jasmonate; Jasmonic acid; Metabolism; Phomopsis liquidambari; Signaling; Sugar; Symbionts; Symbiosis; Transport; Arabidopsis thaliana; flowering; sugar; Phomopsis liquidambari; jasmonate; symbiosis
• ISSN: 0140-7791; 1365-3040
• DOI: 10.1111/pce.13636

The role of flowering in root‐fungal symbiosis is not well understood. Because flowering and fungal symbionts are supported by carbohydrates, we hypothesized that flowering modulates root‐beneficial fungal associations through alterations in carbohydrate metabolism and transport. We monitored fungal colonization and soluble sugars in the roots of Arabidopsis thaliana following inoculation with a mutualistic fungus Phomopsis liquidambari across different plant developmental stages. Jasmonate signalling of wild‐type plants, sugar transport, and root invertase of wild‐type and jasmonate‐insensitive plants were exploited to assess whether and how jasmonate‐dependent sugar dynamics are involved in flowering‐mediated fungal colonization alterations. We found that flowering restricts root‐fungal colonization and activates root jasmonate signalling upon fungal inoculation. Jasmonates reduce the constitutive and fungus‐induced accumulation of root glucose and fructose at the flowering stage. Further experiments with sugar transport and metabolism mutant lines revealed that root glucose and fructose positively influence fungal colonization. Diurnal, jasmonate‐dependent inhibitions of sugar transport and soluble invertase activity were identified as likely mechanisms for flowering‐mediated root sugar depletion upon fungal inoculation. Collectively, our results reveal that flowering drives root‐fungus cooperation loss, which is related to jasmonate‐dependent root soluble sugar depletion. Limiting the spread of root‐fungal colonization may direct more resources to flower development. In the present study, we determined whether and how plant flowering affects root‐fungal mutualism. Our results revealed a novel metabolic network in which plant flowering‐mediated root fungal colonization is related to jasmonate‐dependent root glucose and fructose deprivation. The reductions of root glucose and fructose were probably due to the inhibitions of phloem sugar transport and root soluble invertase activity. Our results highlight importance of plant flowering in root microbiota composition.