Project description:Root exudates play major roles in the recruitment of plant microbiota. The metabolic composition of root exudates varies according to plant developmental stage, nutrient availability, (a)biotic stresses and interaction with the root-associated microbiota, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), which play a key role in plant mineral nutrition and stress tolerance. While it is well established that AMF can perceive plant root exudate compounds, little is known about plant root exudate modifications in response to AMF inoculation. Here, we developed an aeroponic-based culture system suitable for the analysis of maize root exudates during symbiosis with the AMF Rhizophagus irregularis while controlling nutrient availability. We validated the functionality of the system by monitoring both maize root colonization by the AMF and the expression profile of symbiotic root marker genes. We then investigated the composition of root exudates (strigolactones and specialized metabolites) from mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants grown under different N and P regimes. Comparisons of specialized metabolite profiles from root exudates, root tissues, and fungal extracts allowed us to identify candidate metabolic features specifically accumulating in mycorrhizal root exudates. Thus, we provide an innovative method to better understand the role of root exudate metabolites in shaping the microbiota of mycorrhizal plants.
Project description:Low phosphate concentrations are frequently a constraint for maize growth and development, and therefore, enormous quantities of phosphate fertilizer are expended in maize cultivation, which increases the cost of planting. Low phosphate stress not only increases root biomass but can also cause significant changes in root morphology. Low phosphate availability has been found to favor lateral root growth over primary root growth by dramatically reducing primary root length and increasing lateral root elongation and lateral root density in Arabdopsis. While in our assay when inbred line Q319 subjected to phosphate starvation, The numbers of lateral roots and lateral root primordia were decreased after 6 days of culture in a low phosphate solution (LP) compared to plants grown under normal conditions (sufficient phosphate, SP), and these differences were increased associated with the stress caused by phosphate starvation. However, the growth of primary roots appeared not to be sensitive to low phosphate levels. This is very different to Arabidopsis. To elucidate how low phosphate levels regulate root modifications, especially lateral root development, a transcriptomic analysis of the 1.0-1.5 cm lateral root primordium zone (LRZ) of maize Q319 treated after 2 and 8 days by low phosphate was completed respectively. The present work utilized an Arizona Maize Oligonucleotide array 46K version slides, which contained 46,000 maize 70-mer oligonucleotides designated by TIGR ID, and the sequence information is available at the website of the Maize Oligonucleotide Array Project as the search item representing the >30,000 identifiable unique maize genes (details at http://www.maizearray.org). Keywords: low phosphate, Lateral Root Primordium Zone, maize
Project description:We investigated root hair-specific transcriptome using RNA-seq in maize. ZmLRL5 was further identified as a key regulator of maize root hair elongation.
Project description:We sequenced 10 small RNA samples. 6 samples were taken from the 14-day old maize seedling tissue, and the other 4 samples were taken from 14-day old maize root tissue.
Project description:Root exudates contain specialised metabolites that affect the plant’s root microbiome. How host-specific microbes cope with these bioactive compounds, and how this ability shapes root microbiomes, remains largely unknown. We investigated how maize root bacteria metabolise benzoxazinoids, the main specialised metabolites of maize. Diverse and abundant bacteria metabolised the major compound in the maize rhizosphere MBOA and formed AMPO. AMPO forming bacteria are enriched in the rhizosphere of benzoxazinoid-producing maize and can use MBOA as carbon source. We identified a novel gene cluster associated with AMPO formation in microbacteria. The first gene in this cluster, bxdA encodes a lactonase that converts MBOA to AMPO in vitro. A deletion mutant of the homologous bxdA genes in the genus Sphingobium, does not form AMPO nor is it able to use MBOA as a carbon source. BxdA was identified in different genera of maize root bacteria. Here we show that plant-specialised metabolites select for metabolisation-competent root bacteria. BxdA represents a novel benzoxazinoid metabolisation gene whose carriers successfully colonize the maize rhizosphere and thereby shape the plant’s chemical environmental footprint
Project description:Maize is a globally important food and feed crop, and a low-phosphate (Pi) supply in the soil frequently limits maize yield in many areas. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the development and adaptation of plants to the environment. In this study, the spatio-temporal miRNA transcript profiling of the maize inbred line Q319 root and leaf in response to low Pi was analyzed with high-throughput sequencing technologies, and the expression patterns of certain target genes were detected by real-time RT-PCR. Complex small RNA populations were detected after low-Pi culture and displayed different patterns in the root and leaf. miRNAs identified as responding to Pi deficiency can be grouped into ‘early’ miRNAs that respond rapidly, and often non-specifically, to Pi deficiency, and ‘late’ miRNAs that alter the morphology, physiology or metabolism of plants upon prolonged Pi deficiency. The miR827-Nitrogen limitation adaptation (NLA)-mediated post-transcriptional pathway was conserved in response to Pi availability of maize, but the miR399-mediated post-transcriptional pathway was different from Arabidopsis. Abiotic stress-related miRNAs engaged in interactions of different signaling and/or metabolic pathways. Auxin-related miRNAs (zma-miR393, zma-miR160a/b/c, zma-miR160d/e/g, zma-miR167a/b/c/d and zma-miR164a/b/c/d/g) and their targets play important roles in promoting primary root growth, inhibiting lateral root development and retarding upland growth of maize when subjected to low Pi. The changes in expression of miRNAs and their target genes suggest that the miRNA regulation/alterations compose an important mechanism in the adaptation of maize to a low-Pi environment; certain miRNAs participate in root architecture modification via the regulation of auxin signaling. A complex regulatory mechanism of miRNAs in response to a low-Pi environment exists in maize, revealing obvious differences from that in Arabidopsis.
Project description:The root system is fundamental for maize growth and yield. The primary root system is the most important structure of maize seedlings and is the first organ that emerges at germination, providing water and nutrients for the growing seedlings. However, it is difficult to characterize them at single cell level, due to their complex and heterogeneous cell types. In this study, we profiled the transcriptomes of more than 7000 cells derived from maize root tips of seedlings grown on media with (nitrate+) or without nitrate (nitrate-).
Project description:Low phosphate concentrations are frequently a constraint for maize growth and development, and therefore, enormous quantities of phosphate fertilizer are expended in maize cultivation, which increases the cost of planting. Low phosphate stress not only increases root biomass but can also cause significant changes in root morphology. Low phosphate availability has been found to favor lateral root growth over primary root growth by dramatically reducing primary root length and increasing lateral root elongation and lateral root density in Arabdopsis. While in our assay when inbred line Q319 subjected to phosphate starvation, The numbers of lateral roots and lateral root primordia were decreased after 6 days of culture in a low phosphate solution (LP) compared to plants grown under normal conditions (sufficient phosphate, SP), and these differences were increased associated with the stress caused by phosphate starvation. However, the growth of primary roots appeared not to be sensitive to low phosphate levels. This is very different to Arabidopsis. To elucidate how low phosphate levels regulate root modifications, especially lateral root development, a transcriptomic analysis of the 1.0-1.5 cm lateral root primordium zone (LRZ) of maize Q319 treated after 2 and 8 days by low phosphate was completed respectively. The present work utilized an Arizona Maize Oligonucleotide array 46K version slides, which contained 46,000 maize 70-mer oligonucleotides designated by TIGR ID, and the sequence information is available at the website of the Maize Oligonucleotide Array Project as the search item representing the >30,000 identifiable unique maize genes (details at http://www.maizearray.org). Keywords: low phosphate, Lateral Root Primordium Zone, maize Two-condition experiment, low phosphate treated lateral root primordium zone of maize root vs. normal cultrued lateral root primordium zone. Biological replicates: 9 control, 9 treated, independently grown and harvested. One replicate per array.