Molecular Mechanism of PGPR-Plant Associations
EMSL Project ID
49324
Abstract
A large body of literature attests to the plant growth promotion effects of various endophytic bacteria, including significant increases in crop yield. These studies include the possible impact of nitrogen fixation by these bacteria. While nitrogen management is an important agronomic trait in any cropping system, it is of particular concern for future bioenergy crops that will be grown on sub-optimal soils lacking this essential resource for sustainable plant growth. Hence, nitrogen that can be obtained biologically, without the need for fossil-fuel derived N fertilizer, would significantly improve the net energy derived from bioenergy fuels. Compared to other areas of plant-microbe interactions (e.g. symbiotic nitrogen fixation or plant pathology), surprisingly few studies have examined the molecular mechanisms at work in the case of plant growth promoting rhizobacterial (PGPR)-plant interactions. This proposal seeks to partially fill the gap in our basic understanding of these important associations using the unique resources of EMSL. The specific aims are as follows: 1. Utilize sensitive transcriptomic and proteomic methods to explore gene/protein expression at the specific sites of PGPR infection. 2. Utilize mass spectrometry imaging technology to characterize the metabolite exchange between PGPR and plant host at the site of infection. The ability of PGPR to enhance plant growth, improve plant stress resistance (both biotic and abiotic), as well as increase crop yield is now well documented. This wealth of information, an increased interested in sustainability, coupled with an increasing interest in the overall role of the microbiome in eukaryotic physiology, have resulted in increased research interest in plant-microbe interactions and a growing presence of industry in these areas. However, surprisingly, very little mechanistic information has been obtained characterizing PGPR-plant interactions. The proposed research is focused on these gaps in our understanding and will seek to answer basic, but important, questions as to how the bacteria impact plant physiology, what nutrients are exchanged between microbe and plant host, what signaling pathways are involved, what key bacterial and plant traits are essential for these interactions. The hope is that, through a better, mechanistic understanding of these systems, practical solutions will arise that can be used to improve bioenergy crop sustainability and productivity.
Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2016-10-01
End Date
2018-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members