Improved plant resistance to drought is promoted by the root-associated microbiome as a water stress-dependent trait

Summary Although drought is an increasing problem in agriculture, the contribution of the root‐associated bacterial microbiome to plant adaptation to water stress is poorly studied. We investigated if the culturable bacterial microbiome associated with five grapevine rootstocks and the grapevine cul...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEnvironmental microbiology Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 316 - 331
Main Authors Rolli, Eleonora, Marasco, Ramona, Vigani, Gianpiero, Ettoumi, Besma, Mapelli, Francesca, Deangelis, Maria Laura, Gandolfi, Claudio, Casati, Enrico, Previtali, Franco, Gerbino, Roberto, Pierotti Cei, Fabio, Borin, Sara, Sorlini, Claudia, Zocchi, Graziano, Daffonchio, Daniele
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.02.2015
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

Loading…
More Information
Summary:Summary Although drought is an increasing problem in agriculture, the contribution of the root‐associated bacterial microbiome to plant adaptation to water stress is poorly studied. We investigated if the culturable bacterial microbiome associated with five grapevine rootstocks and the grapevine cultivar Barbera may enhance plant growth under drought stress. Eight isolates, over 510 strains, were tested in vivo for their capacity to support grapevine growth under water stress. The selected strains exhibited a vast array of plant growth promoting (PGP) traits, and confocal microscopy observation of gfp‐labelled Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas isolates showed their ability to adhere and colonize both the Arabidopsis and grapevine rhizoplane. Tests on pepper plants fertilized with the selected strains, under both optimal irrigation and drought conditions, showed that PGP activity was a stress‐dependent and not a per se feature of the strains. The isolates were capable of increasing shoot and leaf biomass, shoot length, and photosynthetic activity of drought‐challenged grapevines, with an enhanced effect in drought‐sensitive rootstock. Three isolates were further assayed for PGP capacity under outdoor conditions, exhibiting the ability to increase grapevine root biomass. Overall, the results indicate that PGP bacteria contribute to improve plant adaptation to drought through a water stress‐induced promotion ability.
Bibliography:Regione Lombardia
istex:6907AD764800A957E0BFBED13836111E16009010
Table S1. Details of the bacterial collection obtained from the Oltrepò Pavese soil. The numbers of total, rhizosphere (R) and endosphere (E) isolates obtained from each plant type are shown. The results of isolate dereplication are shown as number of ITS types. The number of species identifying the different ITS types for the R and E fractions are also indicated. Species identification, according to 16S rRNA gene sequences, of the eight isolates selected for the in vivo experiments on grapevine plantlets are also shown. Table S2. Physical-chemical characterization of the soil used for greenhouse and outdoor experiments. Table S3. Environmental conditions during the outdoor experiment, performed during summer (22 July to 10 September 2012).
Fondazione Bussolera Branca
European Social Fund (FSE)
BIOGESTECA - No. 15083/RCC
ark:/67375/WNG-RN1SFMPZ-J
DeFENS
BIODESERT - No. 245746
Università degli Studi di Milano
ArticleID:EMI12439
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1462-2912
1462-2920
DOI:10.1111/1462-2920.12439