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Lagunas B, Richards L, Sergaki C, Burgess J, Pardal AJ, Hussain RMF, Richmond BL, Baxter L, Roy P, Pakidi A, Stovold G, Vázquez S, Ott S, Schäfer P, Gifford ML. Rhizobial nitrogen fixation efficiency shapes endosphere bacterial communities and Medicago truncatula host growth. Microbiome 2023; 11:146. [PMID: 37394496 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-023-01592-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite the knowledge that the soil-plant-microbiome nexus is shaped by interactions amongst its members, very little is known about how individual symbioses regulate this shaping. Even less is known about how the agriculturally important symbiosis of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia with legumes is impacted according to soil type, yet this knowledge is crucial if we are to harness or improve it. We asked how the plant, soil and microbiome are modulated by symbiosis between the model legume Medicago truncatula and different strains of Sinorhizobium meliloti or Sinorhizobium medicae whose nitrogen-fixing efficiency varies, in three distinct soil types that differ in nutrient fertility, to examine the role of the soil environment upon the plant-microbe interaction during nodulation. RESULTS The outcome of symbiosis results in installment of a potentially beneficial microbiome that leads to increased nutrient uptake that is not simply proportional to soil nutrient abundance. A number of soil edaphic factors including Zn and Mo, and not just the classical N/P/K nutrients, group with microbial community changes, and alterations in the microbiome can be seen across different soil fertility types. Root endosphere emerged as the plant microhabitat more affected by this rhizobial efficiency-driven community reshaping, manifested by the accumulation of members of the phylum Actinobacteria. The plant in turn plays an active role in regulating its root community, including sanctioning low nitrogen efficiency rhizobial strains, leading to nodule senescence in particular plant-soil-rhizobia strain combinations. CONCLUSIONS The microbiome-soil-rhizobial dynamic strongly influences plant nutrient uptake and growth, with the endosphere and rhizosphere shaped differentially according to plant-rhizobial interactions with strains that vary in nitrogen-fixing efficiency levels. These results open up the possibility to select inoculation partners best suited for plant, soil type and microbial community. Video Abstract.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Lagunas
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
| | - Luke Richards
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Chrysi Sergaki
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Jamie Burgess
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | | | - Rana M F Hussain
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | | | - Laura Baxter
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
- Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Proyash Roy
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
- Department of Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Anastasia Pakidi
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Gina Stovold
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Saúl Vázquez
- University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Sutton Bonington, Nottingham, LE12 5RD, UK
| | - Sascha Ott
- Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Patrick Schäfer
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
- Present Address: Institute of Phytopathology, Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, 35392, Germany.
| | - Miriam L Gifford
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
- Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV47AL, UK.
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